


Here Comes the Anxiety

by Paesh



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Foster Care, Friendship, High School AU, M/M, Mental Health Issues, No Smut, Nobody knows, Romance, Yet..., a lot of homo, clint and natasha are PE teachers, coffee shop AU, counselor!cap, he comes later dont worry, where is tommy?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2018-04-26 07:03:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4994800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paesh/pseuds/Paesh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy Maxmioff's life has been a whirlwind of undesirable circumstances, so being bullied out of his school isn't the worst thing that has ever happened to him, but it comes pretty close. With his brother off in juvie and his mother trying to pull her life together now that she has her sons back in her life, Billy isn't sure he can cope with moving to a new school alone.<br/>What he didn't count on was the people he would meet at Shield High School, people that would change him forever.</p><p>Between his messed up family, homework and his goddam crush on stupidly perfect Teddy Altman, Billy is losing his mind. But this time maybe, just maybe... its in a good way.</p><p>(Title from the song 'Here Comes the Anxiety' by The Wombats)</p><p>High School AU centered around the Maximoffs, Wiccling and fluffy friendship with some good old-fashioned angst thrown in there too (possibly maybe definitely involving Tommy).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's A Kind Of Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My good friend Niv (@sentientes on tumblr)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=My+good+friend+Niv+%28%40sentientes+on+tumblr%29).



> Billy Maximoff - poetically tortured soul - seeking sanctuary at Shield High School. Maybe he's found it, or maybe it's just another wormhole to trouble.  
> Chapter titles will be songs from my Young Avengers themed playlists.  
> Bear with me, this is a work in progress in some ways. Its going to be a messy, emotional ride. Chapter 1 is also hella short.

Billy was about 317% sure he was going to make an idiot of himself on the first day of school. Knowing him, it would be something utterly mortifying like tripping over his own feet and his pants falling down while everyone stops and laughs and he crawls away to die in a hole, because his life would be over. Believe it or not, he’d been trying to take a more positive outlook on life more recently. He’d come to Shield High School for a change – a positive change – and he was determined not to be shoved to the bottom of the dog pile again. He wasn’t going to be used and abused the way he had been in the past, thrown away like a disposable camera. No, he learned from his mistakes. It was time to stiffen up his upper lip and keep pressing on, perhaps with his head down to avoid most contact with humans. He wasn’t too good at that. Trying to be invisible was Billy’s greatest talent, though his technique wasn’t totally perfected just yet…

“Billy, how’re you feeling?” His mother asked from the driver’s seat of their little red car. Billy shrugged and looked at his mom. She was a beautiful woman, one of the things the bullies at his old school had quickly picked up on and agitated him with. Her long dark locks fell in silky waves, tumbling like a night-time waterfall down from her hair tie halfway up her head. A healthy, deep tanned glow resonated from her skin and her red lips perked up at the corners, giving away the smirk that was always there, hidden from those who don’t look for it. But the part of her face that really lit up was her eyes. They were a bright green colour that seemed to be giving a radioactive glow to whatever she laid her gaze upon. Billy on the other hand had inherited his father’s brown eyes though, something he considered a dull comparison to Wanda Maximoff. Yes, he looked very much like her, but he was forever jealous of her vibrant green irises.

“Yeah, just nervous,” he replied, wishing he had someone that would be going in with him, deep in his heart. But he knew that the person he wanted to be there most couldn’t be relied on to be with him all the time, especially not now.

“Okay, if you’re sure you don’t want to wait until the start of next semester…” she said, looking at him hopefully. Wanda was desperate for him to take as much time off as possible, time to relax away from school troubles. Fair enough, it wasn’t like Billy to be as forward and confident about something as he was now.

“No, its best to get it over with while I can.” He stepped out of the car which had now stopped in front of the school, a big building that looked far more intimidating up close than in the pictures. She smiled at him fondly, pride lighting up her face. It was an expression that Billy adored on her, still adjusting to her being the mother figure in his life, but loving every motherly action anyways.

“Good luck, William. Try and make some friends!” Wanda encouraged, a chirpy tone to her slanted voice, her soft Romani accent sneaking into her words. Billy smiled at her, but knew she was disguising her worry with happiness. He couldn’t find it in himself to reply, so he just shut the door and swung his galaxy print backpack over his shoulder and began walking up the steps to the front door.

************

The next few minutes were a blur, Billy was so disorientated by the sudden appearance of people littering the hallways in wolf packs, or at least that was how they looked to Billy. He stumbled around blindly, knocking into the occasional body and mumbling an apology. He really had no idea what he was doing at all, so it was the biggest relief when a bemused sounding voice called out across the bustling sea of people.

“Looking a bit lost, there!” said the speaker. Billy turned round to face them, hoping desperately that it wasn’t someone looking for a fight.

“Yeah, a little bit,” he mumbled. He locked eyes with the person and suddenly found a blush creeping up his cheeks. Hot damn. The blonde guy laughed at him.

“Wow, you’re easy to embarrass! Don’t worry, I can lead you round. Do you know who your homeroom teacher is?” 

“Uh, Captain Rodgers. Room 12,” Billy replied, anxiously. He figured now would be the moment that he did that embarrassing thing that would inevitably lead him to being a friendless loser in another high school. And yet… It didn’t happen.

“Oh, cool, same as me! I’d show you to it, but it’s pretty much time for class. What’s your first one?”  
Billy could have cried at his luck, being in the same class as at least one friendly (and incredibly hot) face in the sea of strangers. Although the chances of being in the same class as him were very slim. He accepted that he would have to suffer through at least one hour long awkward lesson with nobody to talk to. But it was just one hour. That’s not long enough to make him want to crawl into a hole and cease to exist, that would take, like, 2 hours, 3 hours tops. He was so relieved; in fact, he almost forgot to respond, making him out to be a massive dork as he just stared at the guy before answering.

“Oh, um, chemistry with, uh, Dr Banner?” he said, not sure why he was phrasing it as a question. His dysphoria was clouding his brain, the change in environment obviously getting to him. He wasn’t used to this kind of stress! Talking to nice people was hard. The blond guy was painful nice in his response, to the point where Billy was actually getting a little bit suspicious.

“Spaced out there a bit. Don’t worry about it; it happens to the best of us! It’s your lucky day, man; the chem lab is just at the end of this hall, no hard navigation! You can handle the walk, right?” He smiled brightly at Billy, a joke in his tone, which was a comfort to the poor boy who felt as though he was about to shit himself. He let out an awkward huff of laughter, more like a shaky sigh, and nodded. 

“I think I can, yeah,” he replied, smiling awkwardly and shuffling his feet.

“When you’re there, look for Eli Bradley. He’ll settle you in; he’s a good friend of mine. He’s a muscly guy, black, and we call him ‘Patriot’ sometimes, which will make sense when you see him, he won’t be hard to spot.”

“Thanks… Um…”

“Teddy Altman.”

“Ah, okay. Billy. Maximoff.”  
All of a sudden, the shrill sound of a school bell rang shrill through the corridor, jolting Billy a little as he was suddenly snapped out of the trance he had been put in by the fog of confusion from coming to a new school, and he remembered that he may actually have to learn something.

“See you around maybe?” Teddy prompted as he started walking away, but still facing Billy, who blushed slightly, praising God that he hadn’t had the misfortune of being pale and having a bright red blush, instead just a tinge.

“Yeah, totally!” He regretted speaking. He sounded desperate. And like a loser. And desperate. But in a painfully kind way, Teddy smiled and carried on walking, giving a chirpy wave to Billy as he melted into the crowd of people that were diffusing into the hall from the classrooms, all heading off to their next lessons.  
Billy hadn’t even been at the school for 20 minutes and he already had the biggest crush on a total stranger. He knew he wore his heart on his sleeve and was easily brought down by a hot guy, but this was just ridiculous! Too bad that Teddy was waaaay out of his league and probably an intense jock of some kind who would inevitably discover Billy’s nerdy personality and obsession with all things nerd and shoot him down. Oh yeah, and he was probably straight and dating some beautiful, part-time model cheerleader with huge-

“Woah, watch out!” came the unidentified shout of a random teen careering down the hall on a skateboard. Billy had to leap to the side to avoid getting totally trashed by this kid, who seemed to be on the road to a head on collision and a hospital trip considering how full the halls were.

“Loki Odinson! NO wheels inside!” shouted a teacher, her dark brown hair held in a secure updo, stride full of purpose and a seething look in her sharp eyes out on a kill-mission. She stopped in her pathway as the kid, Loki, did. He picked up his board and waltzed over to her, a mischievous smile on his face.

“Sorry, Miss Hill, I thought that was only applicable to bikes!” he defended, shrugging nonchalantly, his British accent floating lazily over his words, twisting them in a way that made Billy almost believe him. Miss Hill didn’t seem so easily swayed.

“Seriously, Loki? You came back from suspension, what, two days ago? For "decorating" Principal Fury’s car? I do not want to catch you causing any more trouble, or we won’t be so lenient. And apologise to the kid you almost ran over,” she ordered, gesturing to Billy who had been observing their interaction with interest. Loki didn’t seem the least bit phased, or begrudging. Despite the negative way Hill was portraying him, he still seemed to be a nice guy, he smiled genuinely at Billy and shrugged again.

“I’m sorry, it was an elegant dodge though!” he laughed, then turning on his heels and sprinting down the hall away from Miss Hill, much to her displeasure. She sighed with agitation and turned to Billy.

“He’s a smart kid, I promise. Very smart. God knows why he’s such an idiot, though,” she said, probably more to herself than Billy. She looked at him.

“Are you Billy Maximoff? New kid?” He nodded.

“Good luck. Loki’s probably mediocre on the chaos scale around here,” she promised, walking away from Billy. He sighed heavily and unknitted his eyebrows.  
Focus, Kaplan. Maximoff. Whatever. Just get to class, he mentally pepped himself before gently pushing open the door to the classroom, followed closely by a few other students. He looked around the room for the guy that matched Teddy’s description, spotting him quickly on the middle row, an American flag printed on the front of his graphic tee. Billy sidled up to the empty seat beside him and took a deep breath, ready to take the plunge into school life once more.

“Hi, are you Eli Bradley?”


	2. Change of Scenery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which lessons begin, almost everyone is queer and dodgeball isn't just a game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soz for like disappearing for like 200 days lol but its exam season now which surprisingly makes me write more because, ya know, procrastination.  
> Anyway, chapter 2, and I'm probs changing the title of the story lol

Billy really didn’t know what to expect from his first lesson, but it wasn’t this.

The students weren’t dancing on tables, nor were they throwing paper airplanes at the teacher. They seemed to be doing the one thing that they were actually meant to be doing: _working._ Coming from a school where studying was considered to be the epitome of Satan’s work in the world and if you happened to be caught doing it you were sentenced to death by humiliation, the work ethic of this class came as quite a shock to him. He had always been one to work hard, despite the bullying and laughs from his previous classmates, he was raised to know better. However being surrounded by people equally as studious as he was kind of spooked him.

“So you’re new then,” said Eli from next to Billy, not looking up from his work until he had completed the sentence, then he stared at Billy, managing to show a warmth behind the intense stare from his beetle black eyes.

“Yeah, I transferred today,” Billy replied, quickly checking where the teacher, Dr Banner, was situated before replying. Luckily, he was in deep conversation with another student.

“Why’d you transfer in the middle of the year? Seems kind of dumb to me, you’re learning process would be shot to pieces,” he informed, relaxing in his chair a little. Eli had already finished the work set at the beginning of the lesson, Billy a question or two behind him. Eli seemed like a pretty hardworking student, which made Billy wonder a little about Teddy. Was he the same way? If so, Billy would be extremely relieved that he had for once stumbled upon an intelligent crush.

“Oh, my mom moved this way for work, and…” he paused, debating whether or not to divulge a snippet of information about the assholes from his previous school, “I had some trouble with some kids at the school anyways.” Eli nodded in understanding, like he knew the cruelty of kids.

“It’s cool man, there’s plenty of people here who would back you up if someone started something,” he cracked his knuckles in a nonchalantly threatening manner, “especially me.”

Dr Banner made his way to the front of the class once more.

“I’m going to take the chatter as a signal that you’re all done with the worksheet,” he said, indicating to the desk he stood behind where the students were meant to place their work. They all began congregating at the front of the room, paper in hand and the chatter rising in volume once more. When Billy arrived at the front, Dr Banner turned to him.

“William Maximoff, I assume?” he said gently.

“Billy, yes,” he replied, getting a nod form Dr Banner.

“You’ll like it here, I’m sure. If you’re having trouble finding your way around, just ask Eli over there, you seem to be getting along nicely with him.” Billy nodded with a small nervous smile, returning to his seat where Eli was waiting.

“A word of advice: don’t make him angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry. He’s one of the nicest teachers here, but if he gets worked up, you’re dead for sure,” Eli warned, making Billy widen his eyes. He wasn’t quite gullible enough to believe the death warning, but Eli seemed like a pretty tough guy, big and muscular with an intimidating face, so for him to admit he gets scared by this kindly looking teacher at the front of the classroom, his purple shirt tucked into his cream pants and salt ’n’ pepper hair flopping about, a sweet smile on his warm features, Billy wasn’t going to take the warning lightly.

“I was hoping not to make any of the teachers mad, but thanks for the warning,” he joked. At that moment, Eli broke into a large grin and slapped Billy on the back.

“Most words I’ve heard you speak so far, Maximoff! Good for you!” he said, before turning back to his work as Dr Banner started speaking once again.

Billy liked this environment, this kind of enthusiastic work ethic. It was impossible to assume that all the students actually _enjoyed_ Chemistry, but unlike most places, the students here actually made some sort of effort, even though they complained (as Billy heard throughout the duration of the lesson).

 

The lesson came to an end in no time, which Billy was glad for, not because he didn’t like chemistry, but because he was eager to find his locker and put his new books away, and to start familiarising himself with the school.

“Hey Eli, do you know where locker 616 would be?” Billy asked, confidence trickling in to him now that he felt a bit more comfortable around Eli.

“Yeah, that’s right by Cassie. Just follow me,” he instructed, beginning the trek round the halls. Actually, it wasn’t much of a trek, only about 100 yards, and then he spotted the red locker with 6-1-6 printed on the front of it. He followed Eli towards it, but Eli broke away as they arrived and tapped on the shoulder of a girl a few lockers away. She was quite pretty, Billy had to admit, but in a cute way more than anything, her blonde hair tied in a lowish ponytail and strands of it falling into her iridescent eyes, flecked with varying shades of blue from a deep ocean colour to crystalline. She had pretty features and bright red lips that were perked into a smile at the sight of Eli.

“Cass, this is a new kid, Billy Maximoff. We’re looking after him for the day, Teddy’s orders,” Eli informed. Cassie looked at Billy with a bright smile that lit up her whole face.

“Hey, I’m Cassie Lang. Welcome to Shield, I guess!” she said, then turning to Eli with a slightly harsher look.

“Teddy’s _orders_? We’re not soldiers, Bradley, come on,” she teased, then turning towards the doors that were just down the hall, beckoning for them to follow.

“C’mon, it’s recess!” Eli said, jogging after Cassie and out of the doors. For a moment, Billy felt a sense of intense euphoria. He felt like he belonged. Even though he had been at the school through one lesson, he couldn’t imagine it going wrong now. He smiled to himself, thinking of his mom and the Kaplans, then of the bullies, and finally, Tommy.

“Wish you were here, bro,” he whispered under his breath before jogging to catch up with Eli and Cassie.

 

He spotted them sitting down on the fountain at the front of the school, not currently operating, but it was still a beautiful piece of art, especially in the morning sun, the rays reflecting off its surface and blinding Billy momentarily. He walked over to where they sat and realised quickly that they were not alone. Beside them was Teddy Altman and another boy who Billy didn’t recognise.

“Hey, Billy! Over here!” Teddy called, indicating for Billy to sit down next to him on the fountain. Billy smiled, sitting down beside him and looking at the group. On the floor beside the fountain sat Cassie and the other boy, with Eli, Teddy and now Billy sitting on the fountain.

“Billy Maximoff, this is Jonas Vision, or Viz,” said Teddy, Jonas giving a small wave and an awkward smile from his seat beside Cassie. It took Billy a moment, but he realised they were a couple pretty quickly, their interlocking fingers being the biggest giveaway. He looked at Jonas, taking him in for a moment. Even though he was sitting down, his long limbs indicated he was tall, probably around 6’2 at a rough estimate, and had shining metallic greyish green eyes, currently trained on Cassie, who appeared to be whispering something in his ear. He had pretty short hair, a dirty bronzey-gold colour, and he wore a green hoodie and red shirt, a gold watch on his wrist. He looked quite awkward, almost as much as Billy, and that made the teen far more comfortable. At least he wasn’t the only one.

“It’s good to meet you, Billy. What is your next class, one of us may be joining you,” he asked, speaking more formally than Billy had expected someone dressed so casually to, but his tone was relaxed.

“I’ve got… ugh, sport,” Billy said, unable to control the small groan that escaped his lips. Sport had always been Billy’s least favourite subject in school. It wasn’t that he was especially unfit or hated it in any way, it was a mixture of the people and the feelings they gave him that killed him. He was most exposed in sport for one thing, and that meant he was most vulnerable to vicious verbal attacks from his less appealing classmates. If it wasn’t them asking not to be in a team with the “resident homo”, it was them making some snide comment about his sport ability, or his body. He wasn’t scrawny, but he had no muscle tone, unlike the bullies targeting him. For a while, Billy always had Tommy to back him up, and nobody wanted to mess with a kid branded a psychopath by even the teachers, but once he was gone, things got bad. He had to expect that here, he had no reason to expect anything more.

“That’s great! We all have that! I forgot, all of Captain Rodgers’ and Mr Stark’s homeroom classes have PE together second period today,” Cassie jumped in, looking far more enthusiastic than Billy felt.

“Yes, that means we have Ms Romanoff…” Eli said, looking a little dazed by his own thoughts.

“Come on, Eli, she’s not _that_ attractive,” Teddy antagonised, gaining the most exaggerated eyeroll from Eli in return.

“Maybe not to you, but you’re the gayest gay ever.”

And with that bombshell, Billy’s heart exploded a thousand times over and he couldn’t hold back a smile.

“It’s a fair point, but even I can admit that Ms Romanoff is the hottest ever, and I’m the straightest straight,” Cassie said, a smile playing on her lips.

“I agree with Teddy, she is attractive, but Eli seems to be a little over excited about her,” Jonas said, earning a light smack from Cassie and a glare from Eli when he gestured lazily to Eli’s general crotch area.

“Seriously, Viz? Erection jokes?” she laughed.

“I guess I’m the deciding vote then!” Billy said suddenly, his happiness about his discovery of Teddy’s sexuality fuelling him with confidence.

“But you’re gay too, aren’t you?” Jonas asked, a confused look on his delicately sharp features. Billy froze.

“H-how did you know?” he stammered, extremely self-conscious now that he was giving off too much of a gay vibe to Teddy. Cassie covered her mouth to stifle a giggle and Eli raised an eyebrow, yet still Billy got no explanation.

“Is… Is it that obvious?” Billy asked in a small voice. Teddy chuckled lightly and leant forward to poke Billy’s chest.

“You’ve got a rainbow badge on, Billy. If you’re closeted, you might want to remove the gay ensignia that literally says “I am gay” on it.”

“It’s not like we’re gonna _shun_ you, we’ve been to the local pride march three years running, and pretty much everyone we know is at least a little queer, except Cassie and me. America is the land of the free, man-”

“Oh here we go, Patriot on another of his “God bless America” speeches…” Cassie chided, leaning on Jonas for support through the hardship. Eli glared.

“Shut up, Cass, it’s true America isn’t perfect, but _I’m_ proud of its growth! It’s slowly becoming-“

“Elijah Bradley, you’re gonna scare away our new friend!” Teddy insisted, giving an apologetic look at Billy who smiled politely. True, he didn’t want to hear a patriotic rant too much. He wasn’t so proud of America, more proud of the groups in it that were fighting for change, but he couldn’t classify them as America in a whole. But he did like Obama more than the last president.

“ _Fine._ Stay ignorant.”

“Sure, Eli.”

“Don’t come crying to me.”

“When what?”

“Shut up.”

Teddy shook his head exasperatedly at Eli and Cassie, the blonde aggravating the muscular boy intentionally, anyone could see, except Eli of course.

“Let’s not. It’s almost the end of recess too, so let’s get our gym kit.”

 

Billy was thankful that at least one of his new friends wasn’t a total muscle factory. Eli and Teddy were tanks, Teddy having the height to put it in proportion, probably edging just over six feet tall, wheras Eli was a bit more stocky, though he still maintained the muscular physique that Billy could only hope to achieve. Even Cassie, as small as she was, had a semblance of toned muscle on her petite frame. Billy and Jonas didn’t seem to fit into the “physically fit” equation, though neither of them were skinny or scrawny. Jonas was more lanky, long limbs that he hadn’t totally grown into yet, but there was potential for outward growth, and Billy himself just wasn’t built to be scrawny. He was in proportion, a trait everyone in his family in living memory had, except his grandfather Eric in his glory days. If the pictures were anything to go by, he had been a beast of a man.

“Do you do _any_ sport, Billy? Not even one?” Cassie asked once they had changed and gotten into the hall, Billy feeling a little self-conscious, almost expecting someone to point at him and say some rude remark about something. But it didn’t come.

“Not really, unless I was forced. I never really got it.” 

Before Eli could interject with some persuasive words to encourage sport in the youth, a loud, shrill whistle echoed through the hall, making Billy jump. He looked at the entrance to the hall and saw two figures standing there, looking on expectantly at the students.

“Hey kids. Guess what we’re doing today?” the woman asked the crowd, her bright red hair tied back in a curly scruff of a ponytail, scraped out of her face. She wore a small mischievous smirk with style, far more subtle than the man beside her who had taken to grinning like a maniac.

“It’s DODGEBALL!” he yelled, throwing a bright red ball directly into the middle of the group. It was headed straight for Cassie’s face, but she put up her arms defensively and it bounced off with a powerful _BANG_.

“What the hell?” she muttered, peering at her reddening forearms. Teddy rolled his eyes at the antics.

“You know what this means. Romanoff and Barton have had an argument and are going to settle it with us," he stated in a dulled tone.

“We are the sacrificial pawns,” commented Jonas with a frown, joining in on checking Cassie’s arms for signs of any permanent damage.

“My team, far side of the hall, _her_ team, this side of the hall,” the man, Coach Barton, commanded, spinning a ball on his fingertip with a competitive smirk aimed right at Ms Romanoff.

“Sir, Billy’s new, he doesn’t have a team!” Teddy called out, pointing out Billy who’s eyes immediately dropped to the floor. Coach Barton walked over to him, hawk-like eyes judging every bone and muscle. Barton wasn’t the tallest of men, but there was something about the way he held himself that made him a little more intimidating than he should be. He stood with a tense slouch, a contradiction in terms, but he pulled it off, looking tired and defensive all at once.

“You play sport?” Barton asked gruffly, rubbing his stubble. Billy shook his head.

“Go with Romanoff.”

There it was. The sense that nobody really gives a damn about you in high school unless you could play some sort of sport. Nobody else sensed his feeling of defeat, though, as Cassie gave a quiet whoop of joy and grabbed his hand, dragging him over to where the red headed teacher stood. Billy decided that Teddy was wrong. She was a stunning woman, full red lips and bright eyes, the sort that rivaled his mothers, her skin a clean and perfect slate, bar a few delicately placed moles that did nothing but heighten her beauty. No, Billy wasn’t attracted to her, but he had a feeling that any of the straight male teens in the room, and any of the lesbian girls, or bisexual and pansexual people, would have a hard time keeping focus during the lesson.

“There’s been a feud in dodgeball with these two for as long as anyone can remember. Every so often they’ll break out a battle like this, and it’s win or die trying. Try not to sit in the back, our team is bound to win. We’re basically the best. Barton tries to win and be cool, but he’s just a bit of a loser really. We’re not really sure he’s supposed to be a teacher. Rumor has it that he used to be the janitor who decided he wanted to teach sport,” Cassie explained, being joined by Eli close behind her.

“Team Romanoff are the current reigning champions,” he bragged, picking up a softball and tossing it smoothly. Cassie rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Eli, everyone knows you’re the team’s star, stop bragging,” she chided gently, leaning against the wall.

Billy surveyed his team carefully, noticing straight away that there was one familiar face besides his new group of friends. He spotted Loki, the guy who had been skateboarding in the hallway, his longish black hair scraped out of his face and into a careless bun on the back of his head, looking mischievously across at the other team, pulling a face at one of the girls on the other side who wore thick eyeliner. She snarled back. Billy knew the name, Leah Hel, but had also heard her nickname. Leah _of_ _Hell_. There was a certain sense of thrill and foreboding in that name.

He recognised nobody else on his team other than the general faces he had seen around school, but at least he had Cassie and Eli.

“BEGIN!” yelled Coach Barton, suddenly, and the hall was filled with the battle cries of hormone-driven teenagers, all fighting to the death. Billy just stared. A stray ball rolled to his feet and he picked it up, looking across for an opening, but deciding that he wasn’t going to get anywhere, so he simply threw it randomly. It flew across the hall and, to both her and Billy’s surprise, bounced off the back of the shoulder of Leah. She turned, and raised an eyebrow at Billy, followed by giving him a death glare as she stalked off the sit on the bench. Billy was so frozen in shock that he didn’t even notice a ball go straight for his gut. He exhaled sharply and grabbed his stomach, walking off swiftly, not wanting to be a part of this messy game of ‘do or die’. He was pretty sure he’s already signed a contract for death with Leah. He sat on the bench and could feel her eyes burning a hole into his head, yet he refused to look. He didn’t want to fuel the fire.

 

By the time the game ended, everyone had worked up an immense sweat, even Billy, after he had been allowed back in along with Leah. It was an intense game, the last ones standing being Cassie, Billy, Loki, and 3 others from their team. Eli had actually taken the fall for Billy, jumping in front of one of the balls that was on track for his face. He had grumbled on the bench for the rest of the game, but Billy felt blessed anyway. The only way Cassie had survived was furious dodging skills, making herself as small as a mouse to dodge the balls that came her way. Loki had to have been using some sort of trick, because it didn’t look like he had moved the entire game, and the only balls that came his way were from Leah. The other 3 survivors had actually put in some effort, throwing balls like there was no tomorrow and destroying anyone in their way. During the course of the game, Billy felt a strong bond between them. Life and death situations do tend to bring you closer together. He’d even discovered their names. Kamala Khan was one of them, Chase Stein another and finally Karolina Dean. An interesting bunch, to say the least.

The rest of the day went forward without fault. Billy kept his head down, trying not to speak to anyone else or cause any trouble, though it couldn’t be helped in calculus with Loki, who made it his goal to get as many words as possible out of the boy. He learned from Loki’s babble that he is actually pretty good friends with the group Billy had spent his break with, and also that he moved from England when he was 13 with his older brother Thor Odinson, who was a senior, but they didn’t have any more time to chat before the bell rang.

Overall, it was a taxing day for Billy, both mentally, as he hadn’t been in class for a month, and emotionally. Trying to keep from breaking down or exploding at every given second, while also feeling more positive emotions than he had felt in quite some time, it was a bit of a rollercoaster for him. So when Wanda Maximoff came to pick him up from school, he wordlessly flopped into the passenger seat and passed out, much to the amusement of his mother.

Just before they set off, though, a yell came from somewhere close by.

“BILLY! YOUR BAG!” Billy’s ears pricked up and he opened his heavy eyes, looking out the window to see Teddy sprinting like a bullet towards their car, Cassie, Eli and Jonas in tow.

“Are these… friends?” Wanda asked, jabbing her son in the ribs teasingly, her eyes shining with pride. Billy smiled giddily at the prospect.

“Be cool, mom,” he asked, Teddy approaching the car.

“Billy, you left your bag and phone!” Eli blurted before Teddy could.

“Thanks guys, really!” he said gratefully and with only a little bit of a nervous shake, taking the backpack and phone from them.

“Hi, Mrs Maximoff!” Cassie said brightly, a big smile on her face.

“Ms Maximoff, and hello to you too. Have you been showing my son around?” she asked politely. They nodded in return, a moment of questioning at her accent, slightly slanted.

“Yep, we’re happy to. He’s great!” Teddy said, making Billy’s brain and heart alike do all sorts of things that he wasn’t ready for.

“Well, thank you very much, but we have to be off. See you another time, hopefully!” she said, waving them off as she started the engine and began to move the car.

“They seem nice. The young blond man especially.”

“Mom…”

“I saw your face.”

“ _Mom.”_

“Okay, okay. But really-“

“I’m getting out the car.”

“ _Alright,_ alright. I’ll stop,” Wanda promised, a smirk playing on her lips. Billy was smiling though, despite his best efforts to refrain from it. He couldn’t not. In that moment, he had everything. He had his mom, his home, a school not filled with jerks (that he knew of)… His smile dropped quickly into a frown.

Almost everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: I AM BUT A LOWLEY BRIT. IF ANYONE WANTS TO VOLUNTEER AS AN AMERICAN TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS ON HOW AMERICAN SCHOOLING ETC WORKS, SLIDE DIRECTLY INTO MY DM'S. (and dont be offended if I'm rude about ur country, ur gun laws are different to ours so im kinda like ?????y?????)


	3. New Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy is late to realise change is okay, Teddy is a giant nerd, and people are curious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey losers (jk ily), so I'm working on chapter 5 and omg its actually 4000 words long help.  
> Hope you enjoy this, a bit of a filler but there's gotta be at least one, right?  
> Sorry if anything is awful, pls alert me for rubbishness and bad things.  
> EDIT - The backstories that are briefly run through here are edited bc retrospect tells me that it was a BAD IDEA lmao. I've changed the home lives and family dynamics of some of the characters.

3

It took Billy 3 weeks to fully accept that this was his life now, and it was a good one.

For his whole life prior, he had been quiet. He had silently accepted his fate as the underdog, hadn’t spoken a word in his own defence when he was being beaten down, partly because he had no words to defend himself with and partly because he knew that if he did speak out, he was surely going to be a lot worse off. He had been slipping into a meaningless existence, and had been pouncing on and off rock bottom like he was on a pogo stick.  
But all of a sudden, he was… _safe._ That silence that he had become accustomed to was not a peaceful one. He had been living his teenage existence shrouded in fear and hatred. The only reason he wasn’t dead by now was due to the love and support of his family, the Kaplan’s, and more recently Wanda, and without Tommy, he was sure he would be physically dead, not just emotionally. His only safe environment was his home. The outside world had become a threat. But now, his entire school seemed a lot more like a safe-house than it ever had. That was probably due to the people there.

In his 3 weeks of adjustment in which he became accustomed to this new way of living, he learned a lot about his new friends.

Cassie was the youngest in the year, being born August 30th, and she was the perfect human example of the serpent under the innocent flower. Billy had initially believed Cassie to be a naïve, immature sort of girl, in the least cruel way possible, but he couldn’t have been further from the truth. She may act like the cute, young, church-going flower, but she had a rebellious streak longer than the Nile that he had seen a few times already. Apparently, since her father’s death a year ago, she had been acting out against her mother and step-father in an active attempt to get moved away from them. Her mother, overprotective, wrapped up in the average suburban life, was smothering her, encasing her in a bubble and muffling every cry for help, acting like Cassie wasn’t worth listening to and that she hadn’t just suffered a huge loss in her life, and most tragically of all, she would badmouth Cassie’s late father. As Cassie had been close to the man, she wasn’t having any of it, and with the step-father trying to take the place of him , she was pushed over the edge of rebellion; petty theft, vandalism, backchatting teachers, anything of the sort that took her fancy in her dark times. Thankfully, she was kept in check as much as possible by her friends in school, and another girl that Billy had yet to meet, a girl by the name of Kate, Cassie's long-time best friend and surrogate sister. According to sources that will remain anonymous (Teddy, obviously), Jonas had also acted as her emotional anchor too. He was the yin to her yang, and she had significantly toned down since then.

Jonas Vision, or Viz, as he had been fondly nicknamed, was a little more of an enigma. He was pretty reserved for a teenager, but by no means shy. He had a quiet confidence in him. He lived with his godfather and legal guardian, Tony Stark, a billionaire who had settled down from his wild lifestyle with his wife, Pepper Potts, the physics teacher at Shield High. He hadn't divulged details about his birth parents, but apparently he had always lived with Tony, since the demise of his father when he was very young. Despite the secretive backstory Jonas had, he remained a pretty all-round happy guy, though quite socially awkward. It had been mentioned in passing that Jonas had a form of Aspergers Syndrome, one that had become more mild as he grew older, so he had difficulty in some social situations. Once again, the relationship between him and Cassie proved to be symbiotic, as he, too, had improved since they got together. He had no difficulties with her. For some reason, the two just clicked.  
Another thing Billy had found out about Jonas was his way with technology, and all computers (which Cassie had expanded into hacking, now a part time hobby of Jonas’). He was a frequent smartphone user, something that had started to seep into lesson time, much to the annoyance of Eli.

Eli Bradley, as Billy had discovered, came from a military family. With both his father posted abroad and his mother having moved to Arizona with his 4 siblings to be with her new husband (this relationship a lot more peaceful than Cassie’s), Eli had elected to stay in the Bronx with his grandparents so as not to interrupt his education. Eli’s dedication to his schoolwork surprised Billy, as usually the guys on the football team were all muscle and no brain, but Eli seemed to be one of the exceptions. As much as he was interested in sport and being physically fit, he was also extremely driven in all areas. “He hates failing,” Teddy had said, “he wants to live up to his grandparents expectations and make his family proud.” Despite his fantastic grades, he still had his heart set on a military career, aspiring to be as good as his grandfather, carry on the legacy that the Bradley family had laid down. Billy could respect that, Eli’s determination and competitive spirit were something to aspire to, but it didn'd take away form the fact that they were pretty intimidating traits to have.

Billy himself had started discovering new things about his own personality, or rediscovering them, as it may be. He had found his love for card tricks and magic again, something he hadn’t done since he was little. He would spend hours entertaining anyone who would listen with oh-so-astounding tricks, urging them to pick a card over and over, to stand right on that spot and say the magic words, Tommy mocking him from the side, though always volunteering as the magician's assistant anyway. He’d also rediscovered his laugh, which had been lost somewhere along the way, probably around the time Tommy left, but its return had left him feeling a little lighter than he had before. The main thing that he had felt throughout his time at Shield, though, was something a little less desirable: a crush.

Teddy Altman was perfect. In literally every way. He was athletic, (star of the football team), kind (he did charity work on his spare weekends), reasonably academic (okay so he was no Einstein, but he wasn’t exactly Paris Hilton either), and _so attractive that it physically hurt Billy to look at him because of the bright holy glow that resonated off of him._ Best of all? He was gay. Nobody was ever gay except Billy. This was a revelation. He was so unprepared for this.

In terms of his life, Teddy didn’t say much. His mother had raised him alone, working multiple jobs to keep them afloat before bagging a solicitors job that had allowed them to move up in the world, and further away from the mysterious "family issues" that Teddy joked about knowingly with the rest of the guys. Billy didn't pry, to shy to delve into the history of someone who he didn't even know that well. Besides, whatever family drama Teddy had, it could NOT be worse than his own family drama. The Kaplan to Maximoff dynamic was complicated enough without adding in the turbulent history of the latter of the two families, and even then, there was Tommy’s familial issues and their birth-mother’s mental break when himself and Tommy were 4, leading to scrutiny from social services even now. His entire family needed counselling.

Back to the original point. Teddy was basically perfect. How Billy was going to cope with this blossoming crush, he didn’t know, but he was just glad it wasn’t based primarily on looks, like his previous crush had been. This time, Billy was finding himself head over heels for Teddy’s personality too. His kindness and passion was the most fantastic thing, yet the most intriguing fact about Teddy came out during a lunchtime in which Billy was particularly involved with a novel.

“Billy, put the book down for 5 seconds. We’re _socialising,_ not taking part in the book club,” Eli quipped, chowing down on a steak sandwich once finished criticising Billy’s choice of fun. Cassie made a face.

“Come on, Eli, leave him alone. It’s just a book,” she commented, peering at the cover of it with vague curiosity. She made a face as she read the front, her slate blue eyes crunched up.

“The Whole Wide Beauty, by Emily Woof. Unfortunate name,” she said, going back to her lunch, nudging Teddy.

“That’s something that ruins Teddy’s perfectness, Billy; he doesn’t like reading.”

Billy’s eyes stopped reading. He’d pretty much tuned out for most of what Eli and Cassie had been talking about, but at the mention of someone not liking reading, he snapped out of his fiction-induced trance.

“What? Why?” he demanded, not very demandingly. Teddy rolled his eyes at Cassie.

“It’s not that I don’t like reading, it’s just I can’t deal with that much time being taken, and there’s no way you can tell what the characters and scenery looks like. Authors forget to put enough detail into it. I prefer comics,” he defended, grabbing Billy’s attention far more than it had before.

“You… like comics?” he said, his voice barely a whisper. Teddy gave an awkward smile that Billy was convinced had a blush peeking through. Billy momentarily forgot how to breathe, but after a moment of wide staring into Teddy’s eyes, Caribbean blue circles of cliché stunningness, he let out a breath.

“I know, it’s lame, but I like the art,” he said simply, shrugging in an almost defensive manner. Billy could feel a grin growing on his face. Teddy looked at him, confused, but Billy was not deterred. He knew that now was the deciding moment of whether or not he would wreck any kind of coolness he had been trying to obtain, but it would be worth it.

“I love comics,” he blurted out, “which ones have you read?” Teddy’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second with shock at Billy’s surprise statement.

“Um, mainly the DC stuff, I’m pretty into Justice League and all that, Superman mostly. And I’ve read all of Young Justice, they’re probably my favourite,” he said, Billy’s heart swelling by the second.

“Same! I just love how they’re using an all-teen team, and exploring aspects of other age groups, and it’s got really good plotlines!”

“Right? The character development is unreal, and the way they write the relationships is beautiful, and the whole deal with Superboy trying to live up to Superman? Genius.”

“I’m more of a Batman person, like, I’ve loved Dick Greyson since forever, probably my favourite of the batfamily, followed by Cassandra-“

“Cain! Yes! What even happened to her?”

“They literally wrote her off! She was trashed! It still makes me mad-“

“How can you write off Cassandra Cain?”

The babble continued in a back and forth nerd battle for the entirety of lunch, even when the rest of their group had drifted off, bored of the constant indistinguishable chatter that had descended into a different vocabulary all together. Even the ever patient Jonas was looking extremely bored and had eventually drifted away with Eli to go and find a teacher about something, while Cassie had left to go hang with Loki, who was apparently an unusual friend to the group. He was certainly more interesting to her than Billy and Teddy as they were talking about such nerdy nonsense that she had decided to walk away from to spare their feelings. She was bound to say something rude eventually.

The boys couldn’t stop once they’d started, barely even noticing when the bell rang to summon them to lessons. Alas, school called, meaning that they stopped their chatter abruptly and got up from their position on the bench, only now realising that everyone in their immediate surroundings had disappeared, leaving them the sole survivors of the nerd-pocalypse.

“Where’d everyone go?” Billy asked as they picked up a past pace towards the school building, the fear of being late to their history class with Captain Rodgers spurring them forwards, Billy’s legs whirring to keep up with Teddy’s long strides. The man-child, however, remained oblivious to Billy’s plight and forged on at the same pace.

“Lessons, B, they started like 5 minutes ago!” Teddy said, a hint of urgency in his voice. Billy’s heart did a little flip at the nickname, as well as a pang of sadness as he remembered that Teddy wasn't the first person to use it, but he yanked himself away from that dangerous train of thought and landed in the present roughly. Late for lessons? He may have been considered fairly adjusted to his school, but he was still the ‘new kid’, meaning teachers were still making their initial judgements. He liked Captain Rodgers, the guy was one of the nicest people Billy had ever met, not that he knew him that well, and he would hope that he didn’t make the teacher permanently mad at him.

“ _Crapcrapcrapcrap_ ,” Billy mumbled, speeding up a little more as the pair crashed through the doors to the school and made a gangway to the history room, lingering outside the door for a few moments as Teddy peered in.

“Damn it…” Teddy hissed, pushing open the door, accepting his fate. Billy however, was unable to do the same and took a cautious step away from the door, only stopped by Teddy’s strong arms grabbing his shoulders and steering him back towards the classroom. Billy’s whiskey-brown eyes widened in protest.

“Better now than later, trust me.”

An awkward silence descended upon the room when Billy and Teddy entered, the only sound being heard was that of the people turning in their seats to look at the intruders.

“Nice of you to join us, Mr Altman and Mr Maximoff. Take a seat at the front, I’ll speak to you both at the end of the lesson,” Rodgers said, looking both mildly disappointed and bemused at the pair who skulked to their desks, shoulders slumped from the guilt of disappointing the most popular teacher at the school. Of course, Billy knew that the warning he gave also meant that for the whole lesson, he would be unable to focus on the topic of American Civil war, more distracted by the punishment he was due to receive. What would his mother say? Both of them? Rebecca and Jeff Kaplan would be accepting, he thought, probably putting it down to it being his first month at the school, but Wanda? She would be disappointed. He knew she had had to fight to get Billy into the school, and that she wanted the absolute best for him. Hers and her twin brother’s school lives had been less than ideal, having grown up for the beginning of their lives hopping from place to place, so their schooling had been limited, making her all the more eager for Billy to succeed academically. Disappointing her was on the bottom of his to-do list. She already felt like she had failed Tommy, what with his shitty foster parents and criminal activities, he couldn’t have those feelings doubled with her worrying about Billy.

 

The end of the lesson came all too quick, and Billy had been about to cry (or maybe hyperventilate) when Captain Rodgers started speaking. Thankfully, he was far more patient than anyone known to man.

“I’m letting you boys off with a warning. Teddy, you’re barely ever late to lessons, so I’m going to assume this isn’t going to happen again?” he said, posing the statement as a question to which Teddy replied by nodding his head. Captain Rodgers then diverted his attention to Billy.

“Mr Maximoff, you’re still in your first month at Shield, so I’m letting you off too, but if it happens again I’ll be forced to give you a detention, fair?” Billy nodded, same as Teddy, but with a little smile on his face, unable to hide his relief.

“Okay, Teddy can go. Billy, if you’ll stay a little longer please? I need to have a word.”

“Am I in trouble, sir?” Billy asked nervously, catching eyes with Teddy who mouthed a kindly “good luck” as he left the room.

“No, not at all. I’m just letting you know that we offer free counselling if a student wishes to talk to someone. I’m the school’s guidance councilor, I’m available most of the day, just not when I'm teaching. Because of this position, I have to be informed of students medical conditions, both physical and mental.” Billy looked at his feet, toes of his red converse scuffing the floor.

“I’m aware of how you had been feeling and what happened at your old school. My door is open if you need to talk, or if you have any worries. Just thought I’d let you know,” he said warmly. His tone and expression was not patronizing or pitying, it was more understanding, a hint of empathy and a whole lot of compassion in his eyes. Billy had looked up by now, giving a small smile.

“Thanks, sir. I’ll… think about it.”

“Don’t let these feelings fester, Billy.”

Billy started hastily making his way to the door after Rodgers’ speech, stopped short by another splurge of words.

“Oh, Billy?”

“Yes?” he replied, turning round to face the man, who had now stood up, posture strong and hands joined behind his back.

“Call me Captain. A soldier likes to be acknowledged as one,” he said with a cheeky smile, making Billy feel a lot more comfortable than he had a few minutes ago.

“Will do, Mr- uh, Captain.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halp lmao


	4. Take On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy meets Kate and Noh through bad (or good?) music, the story becomes a coffee shop AU, and a party is in the works

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not even gonna apologize for the absence lol  
> so im working on chapter 6 and its really shitty?? im sorry for when that comes lmao its such fillery crap and so disorganised.  
> I really need to start planning storyboards and shit for chapters and sorting my writing out hahahhAHAHHHno.  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> Also this is 5,256 words long be proud. pls excuse typos lmao

4  
As Billy rolled out of bed at the insulting hour of 8am, he gave a loud groan and an echoing thump resonated through his bedroom when he landed straight onto his back on the soft rug on the floor, which was deceivingly hard considering its outwardly fluffy appearance. Wanda stood in the doorway to Billy’s bedroom, giving a gentle laugh as she knelt down next to him and handed over a freshly brewed cup of coffee, which he grabbed thankfully the moment he had managed to push himself up from the floor and instead sit against the bed, giving his mother a thankful smile as he sipped his coffee. Wanda sat down beside him, her skin glistening and her loosely curled hair tied back from her early morning run, which Billy had opted not to join her on purely because he was lazy and why would you even think about exercise before 12?

“So what’s the plan for today?” she asked, sighing heavily and inching a little closer to her son, a sense of awkwardness in the air. Despite Billy having lived in the house for a little over a year, there were still moments like that one of vague awkwardness, more so as Tommy wasn’t there thanks to his departure for juvie 8 months ago. Why these moments happened was obvious. Wanda hadn’t been their acting mother since Billy and Tommy were four years old when she had her… incident. Her being their main carer was still a new and foreign concept for both the children and Wanda herself, and her guilt of not being there for them in their early years and seeing them infrequently as they grew older weighed heavily on her shoulders. Every time she had to ask Billy a question about his personal life she was hit with a brutal reminder that she wasn’t there when he went through some of his most defining moments, and more worryingly for her, she was reminded that really, she didn’t know her sons. But she tried, her desperation to be a good mother evident sometimes which could often initiate the awkwardness they were feeling at that moment, which in this case was triggered by Wanda inching closer to Billy, the fact that she wasn’t sure where her boundaries were in closeness being pretty obvious.  
She was trying, that’s all that mattered, so Billy ignored the elephant in the room and simply shrugged in reply to her question.

“Probably go back to sleep after breakfast, I don’t know…” he mumbled, still not fully awake unlike his worryingly energetic mother, who had now stood up and offered him a hand to take, which he did gratefully. He was pulled up to a standing stance and followed Wanda into the kitchen like a drowsy puppy, flopping into one of the kitchen chairs and smiling at the bacon and waffles on the table in front of him. Rebecca and Jeff, as wonderful as they were, did not cook breakfast often, opting for a more simplistic meal choice of cereal or toast, so the bountiful morning meals were one of the things he preferred about living with his mother in Brooklyn compared to his foster parents back in Manhattan. He was lucky that his foster parents lived so close to his mother, allowing him to visit them when he wanted rather than having them live in an entirely different state like Tommy’s, who were situated in New Jersey (not that he wanted to visit them anyways).

“Hey, mom?” Billy asked, his slightly more alert mind now wondering to his brother and his welfare. Wanda looked up from where she was noting down something in a notepad.

“What’s up?” she asked in an adorable attempt to be “cool” and “down with the kids”. Billy held in a scoff.

“When was the last time you spoke to Tommy?” Wanda’s face knitted itself into a frown as she took in a deep thoughtful breath. The question obviously troubled her as much as it did Billy as when the two of them made eye contact, there was a certain sense of foreboding passed between them.

“The juvenile detention centre he’s in doesn’t exactly agree with outside contact. The last I heard of him was 3 months ago, Billy,” she replied honestly, Billy looking down in disappointment, though he knew that was going to be the answer anyway. 

“I’m sorry, Billy, we’re just going to have to wait until he gets out. I’m sure he’s fine,” she assured, running her fingers through Billy’s bed-hair warmly, his mind relaxing at her tender, motherly touch. He was about to push harder, but before he could even open his mouth, his phone started ringing angrily from his pyjama pocket, making him jump and in turn, startling Wanda also. Billy was pretty curious as to who would be ringing him at such a time on a Saturday, but his stomach did a flip as he saw the caller ID. 

“It’s Teddy,” he said quickly to his mother, who despite their at times awkward relationship, knew exactly who Teddy was, and as someone who was once in love, also knew what Billy was feeling.

“Hello?” Billy called down the phone, his attempts at sounding suave and nonchalant wrecked as his voice raised an octave and cracked at the end, making him sound like a middle schooler.

“Hi, B, it’s Teddy!” said the cheerful caller, his voice music to Billy’s ears. He smiled as his heart rate rocketed and replied in what he hoped would sound a little more like a relaxed tone of voice.

“Oh, hey!” he said, nailing the more chilled out reply. He could hear a noise on the other end of the phone as Teddy spoke briefly to someone before pulling his attention back to the call.

“Sorry, that was Kate. Um, I was wondering if you’d like to come with me and the guys from school to Iron Man coffee shop? It’s just round the corner from the comic book store…” Teddy said in an unsure voice, Billy wanting to sing when he recognised the name.

“Yeah, I know the one!” he replied, sending Wanda a thumbs up when she gave him a pointed look, her eyebrows arched to ask the silent question. He heard Teddy give a sigh of something similar to relief at his words, a small smile erupting on Billy’s face as he heard it.

“Cool! Well me and Kate are going to be there at about 12, our friend Noh works there, Noah Varr, so we get a discount, and everyone from school is going, even Loki, who barely ever goes out to any social gatherings we arrange,” Teddy went on, beginning to ramble on about Loki’s “frankly anti-social attitude”. There was a faint noise in the background which sounded distinctly female, causing Teddy to give a quick “shut up, Kate” which made Billy work to hold in a giggle. He honestly couldn’t believe that he was actually being invited to a social event, let alone by an intensely hot guy. Tell this to the Billy from 6 months ago and he’d probably cry in your face, but now Billy could only laugh.

“So you coming? If you can’t get there its fine! We could come pick you up in Kate’s car, it’s really fancy because her dads-“

“No, no it’s fine! My mom can drive me, as lame as it sounds.”

“Not lame at all, man, some people need to appreciate their moms more,” Teddy agreed, a statement which led on to a pregnant pause as they both grasped for something to say. Billy looked over to Wanda with an awkward grimace on his face, her hands gesturing enthusiastically for him to continue.

“Uh… I’ll see you at noon then, I guess?” he said, more of a question than the cool confirmation it was intended to be. Wanda resisted an eye roll.

“Yeah, noon. Um… See you then! Bye!”

“Bye…” the phone bleeped, “Mr. Perfect…”  
He looked over at Wanda who drained her cup of coffee and shrugged at him.

“Well it was a strong effort. Definitely room for improvement,” she commented, a mischievous smirk on her face as Billy face palmed and exasperatedly shovelled his breakfast into his mouth. He was doomed.

 

When noon came around, Billy was totally ready to vomit.

“What if I look like a dork?” Billy mumbled to himself as he stood in front of his full length mirror staring at his outfit, fully expecting Tommy to burst in and tell him he always looks like a dork. He was fairly satisfied with what he had chosen from his wardrobe, displaying his aesthetic proudly with his galaxy print sweater covering a slogan tee he had gotten as a gift from his brother the previous year that he had grown quite fond of, black with bold letters stating the obvious “I’m here, queer and full of existential fear” which Billy would never cease to relate to. He paired this with the cliché black skinny jeans he wore to most occasions, feeling thoroughly unoriginal as he walked out of his room and began his descent down the stairs, mussing up his hair as stylishly as he could manage without a mirror. In summary, he was tumblr personified, and he hated it.

“Ready to go?” Billy spun round to see Wanda who had pulled a flawless “I woke up like this” Beyoncé style after changing from her workout clothes to a more relaxed option of a black knee length dress and a red jacket over the top of it, her dark hair falling in all its wavy glory halfway down her back, her slip on back shoes waiting by the door for her. When Billy turned, her face lit up at the sight of Billy’s, green eyes sparkling and a toothy smile breaking out as she observed the effort he was putting in. 

“Yeah, I think so,” Billy replied, feeling his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and phone. Wanda beckoned him over, her face suddenly frowning in annoyance, causing a bit of momentary worry for Billy until she reached up to his hair and flicked pieces of it into place, adjusting it perfectly to her liking before taking a step back to admire her creation.

“You are perfect, William. Let’s get going, don’t want to be late!” she sang, opening the door and stepping outside. Billy watched her for a while as she fiddled with her keys to unlock the car, feeling an odd warmth overcome him as he saw her, so domestic and awkward as she fumbled about, finally opening it and pulling on the door. This woman was so different from the girl who had given up her sons at the tender age of 25. His oldest memories of his mother were nothing good, flashes of tears and red, but looking at her then it was hard to picture that they were the same person.

“Come on, Billy,” she called once she had started the car, Billy jumping down the steps from their front door and into the passenger seat of the car, looking at her once again as she pulled out into the road and started to drive. He was proud to call Wanda his mother. He had once thought of her as a messy burden, a parasite in his life slowly draining him of purpose, but he had matured to know that she was nothing like that, and he was proud of her development.

 

They took about 10 minutes to drive to the coffee shop, dead on time, just as Billy had hoped. He climbed out of the car hesitantly and looked over at the Iron Man coffee shop. It was a cute little place that Billy had passed many a time on his way back from the comic book shop, but had never gone inside. It was a red building with stylised golden yellow words and a cosy interior, one that he was hastily shoved into by his mother’s eager hands.

“Go, before you change your mind!” she whispered as she gave him a quick hug and before she practically dived back into the car and drove away, a smart move because if she had left it any longer Billy would have dived in with her and retreated back home. He looked on wistfully at the little red car as it disappeared slowly into the distance, getting smaller and smaller until it turned a corner and left Billy’s sight. The brunet sighed and turned back to the coffee shop with a sense of resignation, accepting his fate and taking the final steps before entering the door.

From the outside, Iron Man coffee shop looked pretty quiet and gentle, but upon entering, Billy’s ears were speared with the sound of a back and forth argument set to the oddly  
fitting background music of Take On Me by a-ha, a song Billy only recognised as the Kaplans had played it frequently around the house. He sourced the argumentative noise as coming from the counter and as he looked over, his heart skipped a beat as for a moment he could have sworn it was Tommy standing there in the coffee shop uniform. But alas, he knew better. He was taller than Tommy, by about 3 inches, and his hair actually had some pigment in it, however light blonde it may be. As Billy stared a little harder he saw other differences, in that this guy was more bulky in muscle. Tommy wasn’t so scrawny, but he wasn’t as muscular as this guy last time he checked. Despite their similar green eye colour, there was more obvious differences than there was similarities. 

This Tommy doppelgänger was clearly the most attacked in this argument as his opposition didn’t seem to be letting him get many words in. She was a girl about Billy’s own age, black hair pushed out of her face by a purple headband, and her eyes were staring incredulously at the guy, no mercy in her gaze. The blond just smiled in return to whatever insult he was shot with. Billy edged closer to try and hear what they were talking about, standing behind the girl sat at the counter.

“Come on, Noh, it’s shit music. This is literally the reason why nobody comes in here!”

“Kate, this is a classic,” the guy replied exasperatedly, almost offended at her words, but a smile playing on his face none-the-less. ‘Kate’ rolled her eyes.

“It’s old. Get your head out of the 80’s!”

“It is stunning music, Kate! Gosh, next you’ll be insulting The Ronettes-“

“Yes! I will!”  
In response to this, the guy behind the counter got a mildly defensive look on his face and picked up an iPod from behind the counter and promptly switched to ‘Be My Baby’, Kate face palming at his childish action.

“This is bullshit, Noh…”

“You’re clearly not thinking straight,” he defended. Billy gave a small chuckle at their banter, which came out a little louder than expected as Kate turned around and spotted him, the only other person in the coffee shop.

“Hey, rando, back me up here that this is total crap,” she said, staring at him expectantly. Billy froze, looking up from the phone he had been pretending to text on. He was at loss for a moment, but composed himself quickly.

“Um, I’m not a massive fan of the songs my parents drilled into my brain since childhood,” he began, Noh frowning unhappily, “but the 70s and 80s did have some good songs, I guess.” At his comment, Noh’s face lit up as he scrolled his iPod for another song, Kate raising an eyebrow at him. He sighed fondly and clicked play on his next song. It played for a few beats before Kate started to smile.

“Footloose? Really, Noh?” she said, but Billy didn’t miss her tapping foot.

“It’s infectiously wonderful,” Noh promised, starting to swing and click in some form of dance, Billy holding back a smile once more. Kate looked over and saw the way Billy had been unconsciously bobbing his head in time and groaned.

“Not you too! This playlist is a disease…” she sighed. Noh, on the other hand, vaulted the counter and grabbed her hand, swirling her around in a circle, Kate catching on quickly and spinning elegantly, making her loose purple crop top swing with her movements. Kate started to laugh, a tinkling and loud laughter that almost made Billy himself chuckle. They danced very badly for a while longer before Kate grabbed Noh aggressively and dipped him down to the floor, where she made a face.

“You’re heavy,” she strained, pulling him back up. They paused for a moment while Kate beckoned for Billy to join them in their two-man party, Billy declining politely.

“I’m not a dancer,” he said modestly, Kate rolling her eyes.

“Neither are we! Just move about weirdly and it’ll pass for dancing,” she insisted, but before Billy could decline a second time, there was a tinkling sound from the door as it was pushed open to reveal Teddy Altman, looking slightly worn out and red in the face from running.

“Come on, Kate, don’t scare my friend,” he chided gently, pulling out a chair and flopping into it exhaustedly. Kate looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in realisation.

“This is Billy? Ohhh… well we’ve already scared him off with my dancing and Noh’s shitty playlist,” she shrugged, joining Teddy at the table. Teddy grimaced and gave an apologetic look to Billy.

“I am so sorry if they swore, flirted, sang, danced or even spoke in your presence, they’re a mess when they’re together,” he said, pulling out the seat next to him for Billy to sit down in. He looked over at Kate as he sat, who was giving him a suggestive look as her eyes flitted between Billy and Teddy, making the brunet blush a little. 

“So Billy Maximoff, this is Katherine Bishop and Noah Varr,” Teddy introduced as he pointed to them in turn.

“Kate,” the girl said, sticking out her hand for Billy to shake, Noh following after.

“Most call me Noh,” he supplied, though Billy had guessed their nicknames already. After the introductions, Kate shifted her attention to Teddy.

“Where were you? One second you were here and the next you had left,” she asked, leaning back in her chair. 

“I had to go back home and get some cash,” Teddy said, Kate looking more confused at this explanation.

“So you… ran? Shit, Teddy, I could have given you the car keys!” Teddy shrugged.

“I also dropped off Loki’s belated birthday present for David at his house,” he provided. Kate just shook her head.

“You’re too nice for your own good, especially to Loki. He’s a little shit and we all know it,” Kate insisted, sitting up straight again, Teddy giving her a reproachful glance.

“Maybe, but he’s our little shit. I know he’s had his issues in the past but he’s-“

“Not again, God… Loki is inconsistent! He’ll be great one day, and then he’ll be an ass the next!”

“You’d miss him if he was gone.” Kate tried to think of a comeback for that, but anything she said against the statement would be a lie.

There was another tinkling noise as the door to the coffee shop was pushed open to reveal Cassie and Viz, hand in hand and chattering excitedly. At the sight of Kate, Cassie let  
go of Jonas’ hand immediately and rushed towards her, crushing her in a surprisingly big hug for such a small girl.

“Kate! Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you since you got grounded!” Cassie squeaked, moving round the table to find an empty seat, Jonas following suit. Noh got up at this point, mumbling something about changing the song and doing his job. 

It took about 10 minutes of Billy awkwardly sitting in the corner before he was initiated in conversation by Kate, who had been butted out by the rest of them. They were segregated from the rest, thankfully, as Kate’s next words would have been extremely awkward as a group chat.

“So…” she began as she sidled up close to Billy, “do you like Teddy?”  
Billy’s eyes widened and he stumbled over his words to try and defend his case, but was shushed by Kate.

“Because he definitely likes you.”  
At this, Billy stopped for a moment, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he stared at Kate, who seemed to be getting more and more amused by the second. Billy leaned a little further in and lowered his voice.

“Really?” he whispered, Kate smirking a little.

“I’ve known Teddy for a while now, long enough to know when he likes someone. He’s been talking about you like all the time. It can actually get quite annoying, but it’s cute. Looking at you now, I can see why,” Kate said, studying him intensely, starting from the top at his scruffy dark hair and travelling down to his navy blue Toms, making him feel a little judged and insecure. She nodded with satisfaction, putting a comforting hand on Billy’s shoulder in a way that slightly mimicked his mother.

“Do you like him?” she asked plainly, gently, and with a softer tone to her voice. Billy looked over to where Teddy sat, talking animatedly to Jonas while Cassie looked on at him with wonder, totally captivated by his light. He wondered for a moment if that’s what he looked like when Teddy talked.

“I… I think so,” Billy replied quietly, not taking his eyes off Teddy. Kate snorted.

“Obviously. And as Teddy’s friend I’m going to have to ask you… Are you gay?” she said, her tone joking as she smiled at him and let go of his shoulder, Billy giving a small laugh in return. He felt at ease with Kate, she was a welcome freshness that he had been waiting for since he arrived. In some ways, she reminded him of a mellowed out version of Tommy. He was almost certain that his brother would dig this girl, but would the feeling be mutual? That’s a different story.

 

It took 10 minutes for Noh to make them all coffees of various sorts, and just as he sat down, Loki burst in through the door, Noh glaring at him as he stood up again to make another beverage. Loki smiled sheepishly at them for a moment.

“Hey… So I’m late-“

“No-one is surprised,” Kate interrupted, not looking up from the phone she was scrolling through from where she had been showing Billy pictures. Loki just shrugged in agreement at her blunt statement and moved to stand a little closer to the table. Billy’s interaction with Loki had been limited in school-time, mainly as Loki spent most of his lunchtimes in detention and he had only 1 lesson with Billy, not giving them the biggest chance to talk to one another, but Loki was a big curiosity to Billy. He was tall for his age, just under 6’, and had jet black hair that was just about long enough to not be socially acceptable for a boy, scraped back by his fingers to the point where he had no parting, it all just pointed back. His eyes were an interchanging combination of blue and green, a fact that Billy found intensely frustrating but managed to overlook because really they were very pretty eyes. Loki was, Billy decided, a genuinely pretty human, and he knew it too, just didn’t flaunt it like many people did. He dressed himself down, hoodies and jeans, battered Vans being his signature footwear, and he occasionally sported a decent beanie. Needless to say, it was hard to imagine him in a suit. 

“Anyone want to hear why I was late?” he asked the group as he pulled up a chair, Kate sighing and putting down her phone for the moment.

“You’re gonna tell us anyway. Also I bet 10 bucks its ‘Thor’s fault’,” she said. Thor Odinson, now he was a character. The older brother of the brit, and the polar opposite. From their hair to their personalities, they couldn’t get more different. Thor was tall (the only aspect he shared with Loki), muscular, blond, blue eyed and loud. He was louder than anyone Billy had heard in their entire school, which was quite the achievement. As a senior, Thor was at the top of the school, not something he used in any cruel way thankfully, but he was also at the top of the kinder social circles. His list of friends were endless compared to Loki’s loner-type attitude. He still refused to accept himself into the group of friends Billy had joined, most determined to remain an outcast. Thor and Loki were close, a little too close, to the point where they never got along. Like ever.

“Yes. Yes it is Thor’s fault,” Loki said, a hint of bitterness lining his voice. 

“It all started in the morning when dad came rolling down the stairs and started going on about getting a new car…” Loki proceeded to explain some elaborate story that Billy had lost interest in around the time he started saying “Thor’s ignorantly large backside denting the car door”, but the brunet’s interest was peaked by Loki’s comment at the end of his tale.

“Honestly. I’m so glad I’m adopted,” he said. Billy looked up sharply, and without thinking immediately jumped into the conversation.

“You’re adopted?” he blurted out, fully aware that Loki had now turned to him with a slightly defensive look. He had been kind of insensitive with his tone, which he felt bad for, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to know the truth.

“Yes, why? Does it matter?” Loki said, raising a dark eyebrow at Billy, who swallowed nervously in return.

“No, I just… I didn’t know,” he stuttered, blinking like an owl under Loki’s scrutiny. At Billy’s adorably innocent reply, Loki’s gaze softened and he started to laugh.

“Oh, Billy, you’re hilarious,” he said.

“Be nice, Loki. We like this one!” Teddy joked, finally engaging in conversation. Kate agreed, slinging an arm around Billy’s shoulders.

“He’s a keeper, so don’t mess him up with your psycho ways, Odinson,” she warned, though her tone was playful. Loki scoffed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Miss Bishop. And that’s Laufeyson to you,” he said, jabbing a finger at her in the air. Kate just rolled her eyes, clearly used to the antics of the mischievous boy. 

“Coffee.” Noh spat, looking tempted to just roll Loki off his chair and claim the spot for himself.

“Why thank you, Noah, this is most appreciated,” he said, a grin on his face, mocking Noh’s misery at being forced to actually do his job. Noh grunted in response and took his place leaning on the wall next to the table they surrounded. 

“Come on, Noh, come sit on my lap!” Kate said with a small wink and a cheeky grin, Billy smiling at her approach. Noh smiled in return, but with an eyebrow raised.

“I would, Kate, but I’m busy avoiding contact with a Ronettes-hater,” he sassed. Kate shrugged, turning back to Billy.

“What kind of music even is that?” she asked him. Billy smiled back, but frowned when a question popped into his mind.

“Hey, Kate?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you and Noh… going out?” he asked in what he hoped was a polite way. Kate let out a soft laugh at the question and shook her head, black locks swaying by her shoulders as she did so.

“Nah, we had sex a while ago but it was never really more than that. We’re better as friends, even though he is amazing in bed,” she told Billy, smiling at his obvious discomfort at her mentions of her sex life.

“TMI, Kate…” said Teddy from the black haired girl’s other side, breaking away from his conversation with Jonas and Cassie to address the statement he had overheard. Kate made an unapologetic face.

“Not even ashamed,” she admitted, suddenly getting up and heading to the bathroom with no warning, giving Billy a thumbs up sign as she left, leaving him alone with no barriers between himself and Teddy, who shook his head at Kate when she disappeared.

“Kate can be a little… forward,” he explained, “but she’s a good friend.” Billy nodded.

“She seems great, Teddy. I know someone who would love to meet her,” he mused, more to himself than to Teddy. 

“Who’s that?” the blond asked, Billy freezing up at the question. He had deliberately tried to keep his brother’s existence a secret, purely to keep questions away from his overly complicated family. He was terrified of them finding out anything more than his mother’s name, knowing from experience that if someone knows your family, they know how to get to you. The amount of times he had the fact that he had been fostered used against him, or that he was Jewish, or even that his mother was apparently somewhat attractive, was all too many. His mind stumbled trying to think of an excuse, which would have been easy but he was a little on edge now.

“Uh, a friend. From my old school. Kind of a “player”…” he said awkwardly, Teddy making a face at that fact.

“Sounds like a douche,” he said, obviously not keen on someone being labelled with such a name. Billy felt the same, but under the pressure to lie about Tommy’s existence he had said it.

“Yeah he kind of is,” Billy lied, temporarily feeling guilty for badmouthing his brother but then remembering that he technically wasn’t, so his guilt was quickly diminished. 

‘Change subjects, Maximoff!’ he thought, wracking his brain for something to talk about. Thankfully, it was Teddy that jumped in and steered the topic away, unknowingly saving Billy from a lot of anxiety.

“So how’re you finding things? I mean, it’s been almost a month since you started at the school, are you feeling more adjusted?” he asked, looking straight into Billy’s eyes with a rare genuine interest in what he had to say. Out of all the things Billy liked about Teddy as not just a crush, but a friend, it had to be that; he was genuine.

“It’s amazing,” Billy replied immediately, not even having to think before he said it, “its just… having you guys being so great to me is awesome. I was scared – no, terrified, before coming here, I figured it was gonna be as bad if not worse than my old school, but its not. And I have so much to thank you guys for-” He took a pause for breath, gushing with appreciation to a mildly stunned looking Teddy. The blond gave a gentle smile and put a hand on Billy’s arm, who jumped with surprise at the sudden touch.

“Billy, I don’t know what you’re school was like, but it sounds like it was full of assholes. We’re not, but that’s not something you need to thank us for, okay? We’ve known you for a month, maybe? That’s enough time to be able to tell that you’re amazing, or at least I think so. What we really need though, for a true bonding experience…” he looked over to where Kate was squabbling with Eli, “is a party.”

It was only fitting that the next song to come on was “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”.


	5. Pity Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a party is planned and finalized, Billy feels a little sorry for himself, and a dark cloud looms when an old enemy creeps back into Shield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wassup lmao. Exams. Enough said I think??  
> Okay so I did some MAJOR edits, to the family life dynamics of the crew in the last few chapters - Pepper is now the physics teacher and Tony is still his wonderful self, because its an AU and I do what I want, like giving Ms Potts a physics degree and a teaching job.  
> Okay so TW! Vomiting, from anxiety, and mention of razor blades in the context of Halloween candy bags. Think thats all, say if theres anything else.  
> I'm rlly tired also lol

5

Billy thought Teddy had been joking, or at least being a little hyperbolic. By “party”, he was sure he meant a small gathering for some bowling and maybe a quick snack at the local McDonalds. Apparently, Billy wasn’t very well-versed in high school jargon. It was barely a week later when he received the Facebook invite to “ _KB’s Halloween Partayy_ ”. He had felt excited enough to see he had been invited, but that excitement plummeted to fear when he saw the invite count. 137 _._ _137 people_ , in the same place, for the same purpose.  
_WHAT THE FUCK._  
He had been in a state of shock for the whole evening, mind whirling with visions of police escorting people out by the dozen, SWAT teams arriving to calm the mania, houses being destroyed, riots starting… He shook his head. His panic could wait until he had good reason to (not that telling himself that prevented him from biting his nails down to the skin).

He sought out Teddy as soon as he got in that morning of October 10th, legs whirring towards him and eyes locked on target.

“137?” he hissed, feeling suddenly self-conscious for being so forward, blushing at Teddy’s confusion.

“137 what?” he asked in return, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at the red tinge in Billy’s cheeks. Billy nibbled his lip from nerves.

“Kate’s… party. There’s so many people…” he trailed off, again thinking about all the terrible and unrealistic disasters that could take place. Teddy’s eyes widened in realisation, smiling across his whole face and putting a hand on Billy’s shoulder as he let out a sigh of relief.

“I had no idea what you were on about for a second, sorry!” The hand remained where it was, warming Billy’s shoulder. It lingered a little longer than it should’ve.  
“Yeah, Kate’s got a few connections so her parties tend to get a little crazy,” Teddy explained, quickly noticing the paling of Billy’s face before carrying on, “but it’s never _too_ crazy. Besides, I’ll be there to keep you out of harm’s way!” he said. Then it was Teddy’s turn to blush and Billy looked up with a bright little smile, eyes dropping to his feet.

“Thanks, Teddy. Just, I’ve never really been to a big party before, or any party really,” he confessed, remembering Tommy coming home drunk out of his mind one night and vomiting all over the rug in their room. He mentally prayed that he wouldn’t end up that bad.

“Well, we’ll drop you in the deep end then! Oh, and it’s a Halloween party, so we need to go in dress up. Everyone is going to Jonas’ before to get ready.”

Billy nodded, a little excited at going to a mansion to get ready for a _party_ , then remembering it was Tony Stark’s mansion. _Pepper Potts’_... mansion. Teacher’s house is always weird.

“HALLOWEEN IS IN TWENTY ONE DAYS!” Cassie squealed, running down the hallway, a hand dragging on the lockers noisily. She nearly bowled Billy and Teddy over when she arrived, but she was forgiven when they saw the shine in her eyes.

“Cassie, chill, that’s still, like, three weeks,” Teddy pointed out, though his face gave away a whole load more of his true emotions, excitement lining his face.

“Only three weeks? Holy crap, that’s not nearly enough time, we need to get costumes and plan the music playlist and drinks! Oh my GOSH, drinks. Who’s twenty-one? Who do we know who can buy some underage teenagers alcohol?” Billy raised an eyebrow a little.

“Well we don’t _need_ alcohol to have a good time, I mean we’re super underage…” Billy’s preaching was cut short when Teddy and Cassie both turned to him with incredulous looks more identical than Billy and Tommy. He shut his mouth promptly.

“You’ve… You’ve never been drunk before, have you?” asked Teddy, but he already knew the answer. His look morphed into something that more mimicked the face you make at a cute puppy, and instantly Billy hated it (but also fell about twelve times more in love).

“I mean, one time, I had a shot but…” Billy neglected to mention that the shot was of _beer_ and he was seven, but that wouldn’t have made a difference because both Cassie and Teddy gave pitying laughs and put an arm around him each. In that moment, Billy became a beetroot.

“Don’t worry, man, you don’t need to drink if you don’t want to, I mean Eli doesn’t, Jonas only drinks if it tastes good so he’s never completely paralytic, there’s no pressure,” Teddy assured, removing his arm and patting Billy on the shoulder. Billy didn’t comment, just pouting with a sulky face until the bell rang.

                                                                                                                  

After a stressful history lesson with the supply teacher going absolutely off the wall at Loki, who for some obscure reason had airdropped classic 2009 memes onto the smartboard, Billy was glad to have lunch, speeding out of the classroom in a typical rush-hour New York Walk. His mind, other than that fucking Nicholas cage face, had been occupied by Halloween. Costume’s weren’t really Billy’s forte. He had been trick-or-treating once, when Tommy had been visiting when they were 8 and it had been the worst night of his entire life. Combined with the fact that his hair had been gelled like cat ears for the whole night and there was 4 razor blades found in their candy bag, Billy had been eternally put off the night of horrors. Tommy wasn’t so easily spooked and had egged the house with the blades the following night, but Tommy wasn’t here and didn’t have to choose a teen-appropriate and yet also cool costume that would suitably impress (or turn on) his crush.

“We’re going as robots,” announced Cassie, fingers interlocking with Jonas, “but sexy robots, because I want to be a little wild but Ms Potts needs to approve, so…”

“I highly doubt she will disapprove of anything; she loves Halloween,” Viz supplied, but not wholly objecting to the notion. Eli laughed a little, an unfamiliar sound.

“I get it, cause Viz is a robot,” Eli assumed, a smile on his face that looked almost out of place considering how insulting the joke could have been perceived. Billy expected some disapproving looks, but even Jonas himself cracked a smile. This was all still unfamiliar, this ability they all had to laugh at themselves, at their problems and personalities. Billy couldn’t muster it in the way they could. They were so casual and mocking of themselves in a way that was more loving than it was hateful. They just… didn’t take themselves seriously. And that was something Billy still couldn’t fathom.

“Well, I still don’t have a costume, but me and Kate were thinking of Harry Potter?” Teddy suggests, and Billy has instant flashbacks to the Drarry smut of his youth.

“No!” he said a little too insistently. He chose not to further his embarrassment by looking at the presumably puzzled faces of his peers.

“I mean, it’s a little basic isn’t it? Everyone goes as Harry Potter.” _Nice save, Maximoff._

The idea apparently didn’t seem too preposterous to the rest of the group, and Billy once again found his faith in God. His mind whirred to try and come up with an idea fast, one that wasn’t totally stupid and idiotic, though those 2 words pretty much described him all the time so _the struggle was real._

“What about superheroes?” It was weird, Billy swore he heard an echo when he spoke, a fractionally deeper resonation of the same words. He locked eyes with Teddy, who was smiling and his palms upwards in a “wtf” gesture.

“Man, we’re practically twins!” Teddy exclaimed. Billy winced, then realised what had happened.

“It’s a sign – superheroes!” he reiterated, earning a satisfied nod from Teddy, and surprisingly, Eli too.

“As long as I get to be Batman, I’m all good,” Eli agreed, a smile playing on his lips that would have been invisible to a weaker eye, but Billy’s vision was 20/20 when it came to hiding emotions. Eli was buzzed. Billy was too, and if the Hollywood sparkle in Teddy’s grin was anything to go by, he was too.

“That’s cool, but I’m Superman,” Teddy said, “but blonde. So Superman upgraded.” Billy couldn’t agree more. Teddy was anything upgraded. The only thing that was wrong with Teddy was that he wasn’t in a relationship with Billy. That was a serious rift in Billy’s fantasies. But alas, he would go on only because of the thought of Superman!Teddy was too sexy to pass by.

 

 

The week went by in a blur, school passing slowly but none of the details working their way into Billy’s brain, and he was beginning to think he should change his meds, he could barely focus, but by the time the weekend came, he had stopped caring. Probably because it was party planning time, an activity Billy had yet to participate in and may never participate in again once they realised the true extent of Billy’s fuck-up-ery and never invited him to a party again. That would be fun.

His final lesson, however, was something that did all it could to dampen his mood. Billy usually loved history, and Captain Rodgers made everything far more fun. Though his soothing voice sent some students to sleep, it did the opposite to Billy, drawing him in to the topic whole heartedly. But today was different.

“Ah, Mr. Kesler! I see you’ve recovered well,” Captain Rodgers commented as a student unfamiliar to Billy sauntered into the classroom 5 minutes into the lesson, backpack slung over one shoulder. He was a handsome guy, the Hollywood Jock archetype character, dark brown sweeping to one side in a ‘I just got out of bed but I always look this good’ kind of way, and he saw from the corner of his eye that a few of the girls at the back of the room whispered to themselves at the sight of him.

“Yep, was just sprained, all good, Mr Rodgers.” Something in Billy objected to Kesler’s sentence and he didn’t realise what it was until he looked to his teacher, who had pursed him lips in disapproval. _Captain_. Not _Mister.  
_ Kesler made his way towards the only spare seat in the class, which of course, was located directly behind Billy. He didn’t have any strong feelings on the guy, other than mild disliking of his lack of respect for Captain Rodgers, but that all changed when the guy started walking past him. He was walking slowly, his steps now muffled by the sound of the teacher’s voice,  giving Billy time to take in his face. He was dark and brooding, dark eyes, dark hair, but there was a careless light to his face, not a warm one, but cold, calculating, and aimed right at Billy. His features all seemed squared off, an intimidating look, and when the corner of his lips perked up to one time, Billy’s chest tightened. He looked down at his hands to see them wobbling a little. Why? Why was he so nervous? Everything’s fine, nothing to worry about. He’s just another student.

He took the seat behind Billy silently, Billy jumping slightly at the noise Kesler’s bag made as it hit the floor. He was sweating.

“Hey.” Billy froze.

“You Billy Maximoff?” Kesler asked. Billy couldn’t describe in words how much his mind was screaming. All he could do was nod, not even turning round.

“John Kesler.”

And that was it. Billy’s muscles slowly relaxed through the lesson, though he swore he could feel John’s eyes staring into his back. He was just about sane the bell rang, and he got up fast, intending to make his exit fast too, but was stopped by an arm grabbing his own.

“Not so fast, man.” John wasn’t much taller than him, but Billy still felt little compared to the muscles and veins popping like iron bars from Kesler’s frame.

“W-what?” he managed to splutter eloquently. Kesler smiled capriciously.

“Just wanted to welcome you to Shield,” he said once they had stepped out of the classroom side-by-side, “and warn you. Try any of that rainbow-fucker bullshit on anyone here, or if you’re a pain in the ass generally? You won’t last long.”

 

It took Billy 30 minutes to finish vomiting his lungs in the disabled toilet and to calm his breathing. He was squeezing his fists over and over, desperately reaching for someone to hold his hand, hug him, but nobody was there. It was his own fault, he supposed, he should have gone to someone for help. But who? He didn’t want to inconvenience Teddy or anyone else, they didn’t deserve his shitty problems. His mom was trying to finish her college course, every Friday night spent late at the library with a study group until 9pm, so he didn’t have her. What he did have was the Kaplans, but he couldn’t work up the nerve to call them. He spoke with them every other day, his foster family still holding an extremely dear place in his heart, and it was hard not to see his little foster brothers, but the monthly visits were still good. He just couldn’t phone them. He stared at the ID for them on his phone, their faces so full of joy and sparkling, his thumb hovering over the call button, but his muscles ceased.  
He resigned himself to staring at his camera roll instead. There were memories scattered all across there, from his first day moving in with Wanda, to his 11th birthday with the Kaplans. One of his favourites was, ironically, in hospital. The picture was Billy, lying in a hospital bed, looking tired, bruise-like bags under his eyes and a pathetically unenthusiastic thumbs up as he gave a grimace for the camera. Tommy was grinning, mad eyes and messy hair, white as a basic Starbucks girl, the selfie capturing the two opposites.  
Thinking about it, Billy romanticised Tommy a lot. He made out in his memories that Tommy was a super reliable and always comforting brother, but the reality was, Tommy was an unpredictable little asshole. They always fought, yet somehow they never _fell out_ , if that makes sense. With him away, Billy genuinely felt like a little part of his soul was gone.

His reminiscing was interrupted by a sharp ringing, his phone flashing up with Teddy’s caller ID.

“Bill! C’mon, we’re waiting for you! Kate’s here to pick us up!”

“Shit!” he cursed in return, jumping up, surprised by how his nose had cleared, his head too. He grabbed his bag and opened the door, running out of the toilets fast and jogging to the school entrance, spotting Kate’s purple car immediately. He made his way down to where Eli was waving at him adamantly to come quickly.

“Jeez, man, where you been? Noh had to close the coffee shop to come get us,” Eli snapped lightly, making Billy wince a little, considering his fragile state.

“I thought Kate was taking us?” he asked quietly. Eli rolled his eyes.

“Her car only has five seats, there’s six of us including her. C’mon man, do the math.” Billy could feel himself flushing, and despite his stomach being entirely emptied, he felt nausea taking over him again.

“Chill, Eli. What put you in a sour mood?” asked Kate as she clambered out of her car, clad in the most obvious hangover gear ever. Her sunglasses were so big they covered half of her face and her hair was tied up into a scrawled mess on top of her head. Her sweats were loose and her top was a jumper, but she looked just fine, and Billy was jealous of that.  
Eli was silent in reply to Kate’s question for a moment, arms crossed and clearly biting his tongue.

“Nothing,” he said, unconvincingly. Kate shrugged, beckoning Billy towards him.

“I’ll take Ted and Bill, meet you guys at the coffee shop in T minus seven minutes.” She gave a brief wave to Noh, who was chilling in his car, a beat-up, bottle green fiesta, followed by flipping him off and getting into the driver’s side, her bag’s taking up shotgun, forcing Teddy and Billy into the backseat together, which got him no complaints, though he was feeling self-conscious as fuck about his bile-breath.

The second the car doors were all clothed and seatbelts on, Kate sped out of her parking spot, racing Noh down to the coffee shop. Kate sneaked a look into the back, where Billy was gripping his seatbelt for dear life, and Billy saw her dark blue eyes sparkling mischeviously. Silently, pleading with his eyes, Billy begged her not to do what he sensed she was going to do. But alas, Billy is not a god. Kate pulled sharply round the next turn, Billy losing his grip and falling onto Teddy’s (muscular) shoulders, hand grabbing his leg for support. He mentally cried and pushed himself up, apologising to Teddy with a mumble and a blush.

“It’s okay, I’m not opposed to people touching my thighs,” he joked, winking at Billy, who smiled blankly, unable to respond any other way. Eventually, he chuckled and he could just _feel_ Kate rolling her eyes.

 

They arrived moments before the others, Kate rushing to stand outside the door with her hands on her hips as though she had been waiting for hours.

“And _what_ time do you call this, Noah Varr?” she hissed, though a smile was snaking onto her lips. Noh just looked at her with a single, perfectly arched eyebrow raised.

“A law-abiding time, Katherine,” he sassed in return, pulling out his keys and opening the coffee shop back up, removing the “back in 30 mins” sign from the door”. Billy found it odd that Noh was the only one working today, but Noh was generally quite odd as a person, so he let it slide into a mental file he called “plot holes in his life”.

“Gather round, my kids, we have a party to plan,” Kate started, but was quickly cut off.

“Wait, we gotta talk about something else first.” Cassie fidgeted as she handed over the metaphorical microphone to Eli, who’s anger was obvious.

“John Kesler wasn’t expelled. He’s back.” Billy almost swallowed his tongue. John Kesler? They knew him?

“That asshole…” Kate hissed under her breath, hands clenching. Billy glanced over to Teddy, who’s jaw was clenched.

“Kesler? He’s in my history class,” Billy provided, his stomach twisting into knots as he tried to come off as nonchalant as he said mentioned the guy’s name.

“I’d stay away, Billy. That asshole along with his whole crew of other assholes tried to get Teddy kicked out. They’re spiteful, aggressive homophobes who will start a fight wherever possible,” Eli warned, his words spitting razors with the intent to kill.

“I know the sort…” Billy mumbled, thinking back to his wonderful time at his previous high school.

“He was my best friend, back before he became an ass,” Teddy added. Billy was surprised. Teddy Altman and John Kesler? Friends? He just couldn’t picture the epitome of light and goodness being friends with a human dickwad. Then again, they say opposites attract.  
Teddy looked bummed as the rest of the group started talking about Kesler more, and his cronies. He rest his chin on his arms that lay crossed on the table and stared, half angrily, half sadly, at nothing in particular.

“He put a kid in hospital, how has he not been expelled?” Cassie spat, fuming.

“’Cause the school system at Shield is full of corruption. Kesler’s dad probably paid people,” Eli replied, picking at the wood of the table. There was a skidding noise as Noh came sliding across the floor in his socks, holding a tray full of drinks.

“Coffee’s, and a single tea for little Cassie,” he said, placing the drinks tray in the middle of the round table and pulling up a chair. Cassie looked vaguely annoyed by the pre-modifier used for her description, but she let it slide considering the more imminent topic of John Kesler.

“You know he’s saying he was off because of a sprained wrist or something? I know he messed it up in the fight, but it’s not why he was off, and half the teachers don’t even know.” Kate scoffed at Cassie’s statement.

“I’ve known Kesler since I was, what, seven? He’s always been a spoiled brat, but this is a whole new low,” she said. She sounded almost disappointed in him, kind of akin to how Billy’s mother does when Tommy acts out.

“Well, I myself have never met this Kesler guy, but I’ll be sure to knock some sense into him if I see him,” Noh supplied, a few people cracking smiles. To them, it seemed pretty out of character for Noh to punch first and ask questions later, but Billy wouldn’t have thought it very extraordinary.

“My godmother knows about John. At least we have one teacher on the side of the students,” Viz said after a short silence, earning some pleased nods from his peers, and Billy was made a little anxious to meet Ms Potts. She was his teacher, yes, but meeting your teaching out of school, as a guardian, is a whole other story.

“Jeez, Shield has some drama. I’m trying to convince my dad to transfer, but he’s such a snob about the rich schools.” Kate then reaches down to her bag and pulls out a wad of paper and 3 pens.

“ANNNyway. Back to business.”

Eli smiled and everyone else leaned forward in their seats.

“Party time. I’m inviting myself, and I call shotgun on making the playlist.”

“NO, Noh!”

 

Two hours.

_Two hours._

Billy was thinking in colours and seeing in music playlists, but it was finally over. He had yet to grasp the concept of Kate’s parties, there had been an information overload, but he was sure it would all make sense once he arrived. He knew his responsibility; bringing enough bottle openers to clog a toilet (Kate’s words, not his own). He was all set. Set, but not ready. Oh _God_ , he was not ready.

“Alright! That’s a wrap! I made the Facebook event yesterday, updating it tonight, okay? You had all better be coming, or I am going to kick some ass,” Kate warned, shoving her papers into her bags, which included costume designs and measurements for half of the crew, including Billy himself, who was totally non-consensual in this design. He had been shunned through his objections, therefore allowing himself to be consumed by this over-the-top Halloween nonsense.

“I’m heading home, guys, see you Monday?” Teddy said as he headed for the door, slipping Noh the money he owed, everyone bidding him goodbye as he left the door. Billy’s emotions escaped him as he sighed when the door closed. Kate snickered.

“Falling hard…” she whispered as Cassie and Jonas said their loving goodbyes, and the latter of the two also bid everyone adieu. Noh went back behind the counter for the keys to close up whilst Eli hailed a cab, leaving Billy to stare blankly at his phone with the text from his mom, “late study, home at 11:30 <3” blaring from the screen.

“Billy, you need a lift?” Billy looked up at Cassie and Kate, arms linked and both looking at his crestfallen face with intrigue. He grimaced.

“Kind of… Mom’s studying late, won’t be home until 11:30 at least. I’ll pay petrol money,” he insisted, Kate waving him off.

“Don’t be stupid, you’re coming home with me. I’m not leaving you home alone until then, New York is pretty sketchy even in the good areas.” Billy was taken aback, and it clearly showed from Cassie’s little laugh.

“Kate _is_ mom, I stay at hers all the time, don’t worry. We can have a Netflix marathon, eat some chips…” she trailed off and looked at Kate, talking with her eyes. Clearly the message got across and Kate turned to Billy with an comically evil smile and said:  
“… Talk about _boys?”  
_ Billy visibly cringed at his obvious crush, but was quickly ushered along by the two girls despite his dragging feet. He had wrangled himself out of a lot of situations… wait, actually no he hadn’t. He wasn’t rebellious enough to get into bad situations, and he certainly wasn’t forward enough to actually talk his way out of them. His point flopped miserably and he resigned himself to being humiliated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u enjoy lads, there's a couple more chapters before Tommy comes in, like he's coming in after the party so we have a while. I've got chapter 6 written mostly, and 7 is in the works, so he isn't in those, probably in 8 or 9? who knows im winging this.  
> ALSO word count: 4,100 my dudes.  
> UNTIL NEXT TIME  
> xoxo gossip girl


	6. Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Billy is one of the girls, truth or dare is played, and secrets are discussed and avoided. Also, Kate is rich. Like, really rich.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aight I know nothing about New York geography and that so I'm saying Kate lives in the outskirts of the city? where the houses get big and the money gets bigger, scarsdale maybe? would that make sense? New yorkers, please help.  
> word count of this chapter: 3,860 NOICE

6

“You’re up, Cass-o.”

“Well, obviously, I choose dare.”

“Again? Really?”

Billy decided to keep it very, _very_ secret that he had never played truth or dare before. Every other American high school movie featured the infamous friendship-making (or breaking) “game”, so he considered himself an inexperienced expert on the topic. The pro-tip that he had gathered is not to be the weak link. No fear, or it will consume you, or rather, the other players will consume you. If you show weakness, you’re dared to fucking inject bleach into your ass or something stupid like that. So Billy had vowed to introduce his poker face to the world, be the master of a game he had never attempted. He was a god.  
Except he had _royally fucked that up._  
  
He looked down at the two glasses of milk balanced on the upper side of his hands, which were fixed to the floor. One wrong move and he would have hell to pay. He could also feel that vile sensation of shaving cream sliding down his back. He had been _hoping_ for just a couple of prank calls, the classic “is your refrigerator running?”, but he really, really should abandon all hopes of optimism in his life, which was, naturally, a shambles.

“Billy? What’re you thinking for lil’ ol’ Cassandra?” Kate mused. God, she was evil. She had the devil’s smile, all red lips and sharp edges, but her eyes gave her away. This was a game, and she was very happy with keeping it that way. Billy could do no more than grumble in reply.

“How would she like shaving cream down her back…” he mumbled, a little bitter still since the feeling was making him nauseous.

“Guys, if we’re gonna take this game to the next level, we’re gonna have to go, godforbid… _outside.”_ Kate’s statement was left with 2 very different reactions. Cassie smiled like one of those hyenas from Lion King, whilst Billy gave an expression more like Mufasa, post-mortem.

“So Cassie. I dare you to go for a leisurely skinny dip.” Because of course, Kate had a pool.

“Okay… Which pool?” Okay so maybe she had two.

“Outside, obviously. Hope you like hypothermia!”  
  
  
Saying Kate’s house is big is an understatement. It wouldn’t be a push to call it a mansion. The entire building expanded to about the size of his whole apartment building, spread into the most luxurious modern architecture built to this day, the type of building that would somehow always be right on trend. Approaching from the front, the building formed a semi-circle surrounding a driveway that had a painfully expensive fountain placed grandly in the middle. In a game of word association, the first thing Billy would associate Kate’s house with is chandeliers. The expensive ones, of course. The building’s aesthetic, itself, was so not Kate. You expect Kate to be living in a studio apartment alone since she was 15, grand but reasonable. This was too over-the-top to be her.   
The garden also expanded farther than should be reasonable in New York, granted the most rural area. From the outdoor swimming pool, which was just below Kate’s bedroom window, round the back of the house, you could look out and see the most beautifully cut grass in perfect suburban strips, with flowers dotted in a way that was intended to look spontaneous, as though Orchid naturally grew at random parts of the garden. The pool itself was sheltered by a wooden porch cover, no material, just beams of wood with fairy lights wrapped around them, the only part of the whole estate that looked like Kate belonged in. A couch lay beneath it, alongside two armchairs, both cosy and unbecoming of a house so mighty. Billy loved them.

As the trio emerged from out of the French doors, they stared briefly past the sofas to the 15 meters in front where the pool sat, lit by a dim glow of underwater lights. Cassie shivered.

“Why are we doing this again?” she asked, monotone and totally dead inside. Kate gave her fabulously devilled smile once again.

“Surely you’re not backing out?” The taunt triggered something in Cassie, something aggressive as she ripped off her jeans and pulled on a pair of Kate’s board-shorts over her underwear, which Billy did not see as he was too busy keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the water of the pool. This openness they had with one another still confused Billy. The number of people he was comfortable stripping down in front of was pretty much limited to his brother, at a push.   
Aaaaaand there it was again. Fucking Tommy. His absence never stopped him from popping up the wrong moments.

“Okay, Cass, let’s not scare the kiddo, maybe not a skinny dip in all its glory,” Kate laughed while the blonde of the group pulled off her socks. She rolled her eyes back.

“My shirt is staying on, don’t you worry.”

And on it stayed, throughout the entire process of Kate chiding Cassie for procrastinating getting in the pool. It didn’t look very warm. The air had a chill to it, understandable for this time of year, approaching Halloween in New York, but when Billy looked closer he could see vague wisps of steam coming off the water.

“A heated pool…” he whispered in disbelief. Cassie smiled and nodded at him, spreading out her arms Jesus-style and taking a graceful back-flop entrance into the warm, previously stagnant water. She arose gasping, laughing, but wincing as she did. Kate laughed, too, in a totally unsupportive manner, but it was okay. It was all okay.

Billy had no idea what was going on, but there was camaraderie in the moment. He blinked, and without realising, he was sat down, Kate was talking like she had been talking for hours, Cassie was lying on an inflatable in the pool, splashing flecks of water onto her legs. Her eyes were closed, blonde hair dipped in the water beside her, turning invisible under the surface. Her eyes were closed, speckled with water across the lids. She looked dead, but peaceful.

“Are you even listening to me anymore?”

Billy jumped.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, unable to form any excuse and suddenly feeling overwhelmed with guilt. God, he was a shit person. He didn’t even look Kate in the eye when he apologised. He didn’t even listen to her, he just ignored the entire conversation to think about how dead Cassie looks-

“Hey, stop overthinking. Bad for your health,” Kate snapped. Billy, shocked by her tone, whipped his eyes up and locked onto hers. Her eyes were blue. They weren’t baby, all-American blue (probably since Kate is part Chinese), but they were a greyed, gunmetal blue. If Cassie was a summer sky, Kate was a stormy sea, as cliché as it may be. There isn’t a better comparison.

“Overthinking?”

“Yeah. I have like a sixth sense for it. You’re a hotspot for overthinking,” she said lackadaisically, as if it was no big deal that she just read his mind. He must have been a little slack jawed, because Kate giggled at his expression and followed it up with a concise eye-roll.

“Don’t act so surprised, you’re dazing off into space and not looking me in the eye when I call you out on it, it’s not hard to tell.” It was true. Most people are open books, readable, and most other people are perceptive. What’s rare is finding a perceptive person that will actually speak up with what they see in you, hence Billy’s shock.

“Nice,” Billy replied. He couldn’t really find the words to counter that. Kate shuffled on the couch they were relaxing on, hugging her knees. It was a vulnerable position, the foetus-style way of sitting, and it was the most insecure Billy had seen Kate. Then she caught his eye and stretched out a little, throwing her arms out to either side of her.

“When my mom died, I used to over-think. Susan, my sister, she was the worst for it, always blaming herself, and thinking everyone was blaming her. I think that’s what helped me get over the over-thinking; seeing someone else do it and realising how dumb it looks. Because it looks dumb, like super bad. Stop overthinking. Right now.”

See, whenever people came out with these guilt-inducing stories about family and friends who died or have cancer or something, Billy can never gauge how he’s supposed to react. When Wanda revealed her crappy childhood to him, all he could say was, “is grandpa still in jail then?” which, understandably, produced a not so accepting reaction. His mind flicked for a moment to the classic lines he had prepared for situations like these.

“I’m so sorry, how did she die?” he says. He worries, for a moment, that he was too monotone, wasn’t emotional enough, but he could hear Kate in his head telling him to stop overthinking, so he ignored those thoughts as best he could.

“Car accident. It’s always that or cancer, right?” She was cynical, and though her words were cold, her tone was calm. It was accepting.

“It happened about five years ago, so I’ve had time to adjust. I mean, dad adjusted in minutes so it’s left its tension on us, but I’m…” he almost heard her say “over it”, but he didn’t.

“So things aren’t so cool with your dad?” he prompts, moving swiftly away from that topic.

“Minor daddy issues!” Cassie provides from the pool. Kate scoffs and flips her off, which the blonde corpse didn’t see, but she smirked as though she had.

“He’s an ass. A money-grabbing, unsupportive ass. I’m like 90% sure he’s funding some New York gangs.” Billy blinked at the confession.

“Well, I guess my family problems aren’t that extreme after all,” he joked, suddenly envisioning Kate’s dad as a Godfather-esque mafia man.

“Family problems? I’m intrigued, Mr. Maximoff. Do tell…” she said in a theatrical voice. Billy decided that God exists as the phone rings just before he is forced to answer.

“Mom?” he said as he picks it up. Literally nobody else would be calling him at 11:00pm.

“I’m finishing a little earlier, _perinn,_ are you home or do you need picking up?” Wanda asked. The word she used was Sokovian, Genoshan-Sokovian really, a word for child, or specifically, your own child. It’s a term of endearment, sometimes used for other people’s children if you’re particularly close to them. Genoshan was a beautiful language, but it always sounded its best on his mother’s tongue.

“Yeah, I’m at Kate’s house, she insisted I stay at hers until you were finished, so would that be okay?” There was a pause beyond the phoneline as his mother was bustling about.

“Billy, I just got your text… Her address – she’s quite far out-“

“That’s fine, Wanda, I’ll get a taxi! I’ve still got money saved, it’s okay.”

A debate ensued, quiet and collected, all under the watchful eye of Katherine Bishop, who was giving him a stare down as she waited for his call to end, which it did soon after.

“Okay, I’m gonna call a cab real quick, sorry for forcing myself into your house and all –“

“I called a cab, don’t worry! Cassie, get changed and go to bed, I’m gonna walk Billy out.”

Cassie waved absently, shivering as she pushed herself through the water with her hands to get to the pool edge.

“You called one?”

“Yeah, while you were on the phone. I know – call me amazing.”

“Why say what’s already known?” he sassed (if a compliment can be sassy). Kate raised her eyebrow at him.

“Damn, Billy… I’m a little turned on.”

 

Billy hadn’t known Kate for an overwhelming amount of time, but a good couple of months can do wonders for your knowledge on someone. He knew Kate’s favourite drink was a strong coffee, the kind that stings your nose because it has literally no milk or sugar. She is an expert archer, accuracy to the point of freakishness, and she was trained in mixed martial arts (though she’s still learning, not quite an expert in that department). She has a turbulent relationship with her largely absent father and she hates Central Park with an illogical passion. Point being, Billy knows quite a lot about Kate. So really, he should be ready for the fact that by taxi, she meant her own services. She twizzled her keys around her index finger whilst smiling at him. It wasn’t a happy smile, more of a competitive smile, daring him to decline her offer. And Billy would have… had he not been slightly in fear of Kate’s probably no-nonsense reaction.

“C’mon, we can jam. It’ll be fun,” she insisted, getting into the driver’s side of her all-too-shiny car, a dark, old-person-grape colour. Despite its sparkling exterior, the inside was a warzone, and Billy was convinced she was the losing side.

“Kate, not to be rude… but has this car ever been cleaned?” Kate elected not to answer the question with words, deciding instead on a vague shrug of her shoulders. Billy gave a gentle snicker as she started the engine and began to make her way.

Though Kate seems like the sort to be a reckless driver, she was actually very safe on the roads, cautious if anything. Not that Billy was going to ask, but he suspected it was a lingering affect from the grief of losing her mother in a car accident.

“Why’d you call your mom Wanda?” she asked suddenly. Billy choked down his vomit of a sigh. It was _always_ too early to talk personal.

“That’s her name?” he said, covering his discomfort with a superior tone. It didn’t suit his anxious mess of a personality. Kate wasn’t intimidated.

“Yeah, but she’s mom, isn’t she? I mean, my dad’s an ass, but I still call him dad, not ‘Derek’. That would be kinda… weird.”

“I guess it’s just how we work. We’ve always kinda used both –“ he bit his tongue hard and immediately regret it. Shit. He was rumbled.

“We?” There it was again, that boldness in perception. “You have siblings?”

Billy has multiple answers to this. He could outright deny the statement, but by now the answer is already pretty clear. He could say “yeah, two,” and refer to his brothers from the Kaplans, but that would not only be referring to a different family to the one he lives with currently, but also ignoring his twin. However, saying he has a twin – or even mentioning Tommy’s existence at all – would welcome a whole host of far more complex questions which, in all honestly, Billy was not prepared to answer. So he panicked.

“Uh-huh…” he mumbled, directing his gaze firmly out the window, staring into his dark reflection as it flashed by headlights. The light tinted his hair, playing tricks on his eyes, and for a moment, his brown locks were white.

“How many? I’ve got Susan, so if you have a sister, I know the pain.”

“Can we talk about something else?” he asked. Well, he tried to ask, but he asked it so mumbled and stuttery that it was drowned by Kate’s babble. His heart was jumping.

“I always pegged you for the only child sort, ya know? I mean, most people complain about their siblings, like me for example, but I guess you must get along then, ‘cause I’ve never even heard you mention-”

“Kate.” She looked up. There was a frown. Billy hadn’t intended for his tone to be harsh, but it was. And there, in her eyes, there was something. Tiny, something like when you get a crumb in your bed and you feel it for hours even when you’ve dusted away everything you see. She was guilty. It was a tiny, little slice of guilt but Billy’s all-too dysfunctional mind amplified it and projected it onto himself.

“You okay?” she asked, masking the guilt that she had had for a moment. But the shard that had escaped her and impaled Billy was thriving. What could he do besides be honest?

“Yeah. Um, I have a brother, but… don’t tell the others. Its just – things are complicated, um… I-“

“You don’t have to justify yourself, you know. I get it,” she said. Billy looked at her, really looked at her, and saw a girl who understood. Maybe she didn’t empathise, or know what was going on behind the closed doors that led to Billy’s life, but she understood the need for topical silence. She gave a smile, her eyes creasing as she did and she flicked on the radio and they drove I silence, other than the hum of the engine and Kate’s throat, both in perfect harmony, and Billy fell asleep.

 

“WILLIAM!”

Billy jerked awake and his hand twitched and bashed uncomfortably on the door of the passenger’s side. He blearily looked over to Kate, who was, naturally, pissing herself laughing at his terrible misfortune. Her laugh was infectious, and as lethargic as he was, he found himself chuckling in time with her.

“We’re here, dumbass. Took me forever to find a parking space, so get out. Let’s go meet the parents!”

“Ha, just the mom, but you don’t have to come inside if you don’t want to.”

“I insist. And so does your mom, I called her on the intercom and she said to come inside for coffee!”

Billy internalised a groan. Wanda Maximoff + Kate Bishop could only end amicably, and if it ends well then his mother will become friends with his friend and then she’ll be invited for dinner and then before long she’ll be the “daughter I never had”. After that, Kate will become Wanda’s correspondent on Billy’s every move. His life becomes a Jason Bourne movie. Eyes are everywhere. Trust no-one. Not even yourself.

But Billy smiled.

“Okay, fine. Lets go.”

They began the walk up to Billy’s humble abode, a charming little second floor, pre-war walk-up apartment, the money to afford it all coming probably from Billy’s deranged – sorry, _estranged,_ grandfather, a blessing to Wanda despite her distance from her father. Erik Maximoff was not a name to often grace the lips of the other Maximoffs.

After walking up to the second floor, Billy had barely knocked twice on the door of ‘APT 1’ when Wanda pulled open the door, smiling.

“William, and this must be Kate! Welcome in, welcome. I’ll get some coffee on boil,” she said, fumbling over her words in excitement. For once, Kate did indeed seem baffled. She looked over to Billy and mouthed ‘she’s so nice!’ before following the bumbling woman inside and wandering into the kitchen whilst Billy made his way into his room to dump his bag. He had been gone barely a minute when he came back to his mother laughing jubilantly with his friend. His life flashed, but he quickly got over it.

“Uh, anything I missed?”

“Oh, nothing, just Kate has a very good humour,” Wanda clarified, reaching out an arm to Billy who, quite uncomfortably, walked closer and picked up a coffee, dash of milk, one sugar, and made his way to the sofa to process. Kate followed suit, Wanda remaining in the kitchen to clean up whatever mess had been there.

“Your mom is great. She’s so pretty, you look just like her!” Kate loud-whispered, looking more excited than he ever is. He raised an eyebrow at her enthusiasm.

“Well, we kinda share the same genes, so…” he said jokingly, earning him a jab to the side.

“You know what I mean.” Her eyes trailed a moment to a picture on the coffee-table in front of them. It was Wanda’s favourite, their first Christmas with all three of them since they were toddlers. Wanda is central, caught mid-laugh so that her smile is just breaking, light catching just in between her impossibly perfect red lips, eyes loud and bold, staring at something beyond the camera. Rebecca Kaplan had invited Wanda over for Christmas, wanting her to reconnect to the boys before they went to live with her. It was an innocent photo. They were 14, Billy gracing the viewers with a rare, genuine smile, hazel eyes trained on his brother, one hand itching his Christmas jumper. It was scratchy, but red. Billy loved red.

“Is that your brother?” Kate asked as she studied the image. Billy was snapped out of his trance to look at where Kate was pointing, looking back up at her face just in time to see realisation hit her.

“Oh my gosh, are you twins?” she said, answering her own question by looking at it again. Billy did the same, staring at his brother’s image, not smiling, but content. Tommy was rarely in such a state, so the photo immortalised the moment in all its glory. As he looked at the photo he saw Tommy’s eyes that matched Wanda’s. Well, almost. Tommy was tortured in his eyes, Wanda too, but Tommy with fresher wounds.

“Yeah,” he said shortly, sipping his coffee with false-absence, and Kate shut up. She put the photo down dejectedly.

“You miss him a lot, huh?” Kate spoke with empathy that struck a chord in Billy. Her usual tone was like an enlarged font in bold and underlined, but this was a softer tone, a gentle italic slant. He nodded, smiling sadly at her. She probably thought Tommy was dead, and he was okay with her thinking that if it meant these conversations would end.

After a pregnant pause that was taken up by Billy itching his back and Kate sipping on her coffee, Kate cleared her throat and spoke up again.

“So I heard Kessler is on Fury’s watch list. He’s tired of his shit, finally. God, your school has problems,” she informed. Billy looked up at her, alert.

“The big asshole? The one that was suspended?”

“That’s the one. Man, I can’t believe they let him back in.”

“What even happened? I heard he beat someone up or something, someone got badly hurt.” Kate made a face like she was trying to decide if he was right or not, or like she was holding something back. She poker-faced herself and then looked at him.

“Before you came, a lot of shit went down. There was a guy we were friends with, Nate. Cassie and him were, involved? I don’t even know, but he ended up getting mixed up in the wrong crowds, mixing with Kessler. Anyway, someone apparently _made_ Kessler to go ape-shit that day, where he tried to beat the crap out of some kid. I mean, Kessler has always been an ass, I’m not excusing him, probably some misguided youth thing, but he wasn’t out for blood. He’d push and shove and the _occasional_ fist would fly, but this was next level. Nate tried to break it up, but he ended up getting involved. We haven’t seen him since,” she explained, her tale thick with drama. She sat up a little straighter and leaned in.

“Worst part is, Nate is Jonas’ cousin. And even he doesn’t know where he is.”

**Author's Note:**

> FIND ME ON TUMBLR @soyoungavengers  
> OR MY MAIN BLOG @blondelogictash


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